Are Women Leaders Losing Ground?

ATLANTA, Ga., June 15, 2016 — A global effort to increase the number of women leaders in business may be faltering from a lack of executive commitment, according to a new survey.

The 2016 Global Business Survey  by Cornerstone International Group reveals that 45% of those surveyed believe gender diversity is incidental to business performance.   Over 60% acknowledge that gender diversity is not mentioned in their Corporate Mission or Values Statement.

“Although the belief remains strong that women executives make a major contribution to performance, it seems making it work is someone else’s problem”, says Larry Shoemaker, President of Cornerstone International Group, a global executive recruitment and leadership development organization.  “There has definitely been a slowdown, and this may be much of the reason why.”

Increasing the number of women in business management roles has been a high profile campaign for several decades, with studies indicating that diversity in leadership improves business performance.  The momentum now appears stalled.  According to another recent survey, the number of female executives worldwide increased by only 3 percentage points — to 22% — in the past decade.

“I think support for the principle remains strong,” continues Shoemaker, “and 17% of the respondent firms in our survey are led by a female CEO now.   But if the organizational environment is not being cultivated, we’re not going to increase those numbers very quickly.”

Survey participants rejected the introduction of quotas by a margin of 3:1, but less than 17% of them have a formal policy to recruit high-value women.  One in four consider it is harder to find qualified women than men.

Participants in the Cornerstone International Group survey come from 22 countries and represent a broad spectrum of firms having revenues from $10 million to over $10 billion.

Members of Cornerstone International Group are located in 36 countries.  For more information, visit www.cornerstone-group.com

For more information
Chris Allan
Cornerstone International Group
Marketing Team
Chris-allan@cornerstone-group.com
Skype: chris.allan64
www.cornerstonegroup.com