Why Aren’t There More Women CEOs? What You Might Not Know About Your Women Leaders

It’s a complicated question with an even more complex answer, encompassing opportunity, bias, cultural norms, and individual motivations.

Women leaders are crucial to organizations’ success—a better gender mix among board directors and senior executives is linked to higher return on equity, higher valuations, better stock performance, and higher dividend payouts. Yet the numbers make it clear that, despite more awareness, we still haven’t meaningfully moved the needle on women’s representation at the CEO level. Our latest CEO Turnover Index found that, even with more women taking CEO roles than ever before, only 15% of new CEOs appointed globally in 2023 were women.

To help organizations achieve gender parity at the CEO level, Russell Reynolds Associates is launching RRA Artemis, an executive development program created to accelerate the appointments of the next generation of women CEOs. As part of this effort, we are conducting ongoing research around the leadership capabilities, behaviors, and motivators specific to women leaders.

Via data from our H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, our latest findings show that women leaders are more likely to underestimate their potential, express loyalty to an organization, and feel deep ties to their workplace ecosystem—all of which significantly impact how they make decisions about their careers.

Women have always been equally capable (and, on certain measures, even more impactful) leaders, but they’ve been historically held back from the top job, either by external factors or their own motivations. Read on to learn how these exact factors are tied to what makes women well-suited to be CEOs today—and how organizations can finally close the leadership gender gap.

Imposter Syndrome in action: Women leaders hold themselves to a higher bar before voicing interest in the next level

There’s a discrepancy between how men and women leaders gauge their own capabilities. Nearly 70% of men report that, if their manager were to leave, they have the skills and experience needed to do their job. On the other hand, only 50% of women leaders say the same. In fact, women are more than twice as likely to believe they are not equipped to do their manager’s job than men—a significant underestimation.

Figure 1: Self-perception of next level leadership capabilities: women vs men

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates' H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 884 C-level and next generation leaders}

These discrepancies suggest that many women may not entertain the idea of a career move until they are confident that their experience level is equivalent or even outpacing the role requirements. Margot McShane, co-leader of RRA’s Board and CEO Advisory practice in the Americas, notes that women are often more cautious about embarking on a new opportunity unless they feel certain that they can fully deliver. Men may have similar concerns, but they are significantly more open to pursuing new opportunities regardless.

Some of this may be ingrained long before women reach the leadership level. A 2021 study from Yale found that women often aren’t promoted because managers incorrectly underestimate their leadership potential—meaning women leaders have likely fought harder than their male counterparts to get where they are today. Thus, by the time women begin exploring new responsibilities and career opportunities, they are likely to be frustrated by all the men who have already passed them by and may begin expressing “a desire to feel more valued by another organization” – one of the top reasons women said they’d be willing to leave their roles in the last year.

Women leaders are often more ready than they think for the next level. To ensure leaders cultivate a culture where everyone can succeed, sponsors should invite qualified women leaders to the next level—even if they don’t perceive themselves to be ready. In practice, this means equipping sponsors to act as advocates of emerging leaders, creating opportunities for increased visibility, and championing sponsees’ potential in critical talent discussions. This advocacy prevents high potential talent from slipping through the gaps.” Margot McShane Russell Reynolds Associates

The loyalty component: Women leaders are less willing to make a career move

Overall, men are more likely than women leaders to say that they are willing to make a career move today, with 60% of men expressing interest versus only 49% of women.

When asked what factors would motivate them to change employers, both men and women leaders were most likely to select “career advancement.” Motivators diverged in the number two spot, however, with more women “seeking a different company culture,” while more men chose “better pay” (Figure 2).

Figure 2: H1 2023 top factors for leaders’ willingness to change employers: women vs men

% leaders ranking each item from a list of 18 potential motivators for changing employers (Top 8 listed; see Table 1 for full list )

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates' H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 491 C-suite and next generation leaders}

Women’s motivators for leaving their roles are intertwined with complex factors like company culture, growth opportunities, and feeling valued. This suggests that, rather than focusing on factors that only impact them personally, women account for their experience within—and their departure’s potential impact upon—the entire organization when considering what’s next (more on this below). Meaning: it’s harder to catch women leaders’ attention.

This loyalty is a differentiator when considering talent retention from a macro perspective. And while it’s good news for organizations looking to retain top women, it may present a more difficult road for those trying to hire more women or pose a counter for a woman who’s received a competing job offer—a straightforward solution like a pay raise may not be enough to change her mind.

Deep ties to the ecosystem: When deciding to stay at an organization, men focus on individual factors, while women take a more collective view

It’s also important to understand why leaders stay at organizations. We found that women tend to index on collective factors that are dependent on many people to achieve—company culture, long-term organizational stability, and an encouraging environment. Whereas individual factors that impact personal experience within an organization—a strong connection to the organization’s mission/purpose, better benefits, and competitive pay—are more motivating to men.

Figure 3: Collective vs individual factors motivating leaders to stay at employer: women vs men

% of leaders ranking each item from a list of 17 potential motivators for remaining at current employer (See Table 4 for full list)

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates’ H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 152 C-level and next generation leaders}

This highlights why organizations need to adopt a systems-thinking mindset when using talent processes to increase representation. Beyond giving women leaders better titles or compensation (both necessary), organizations need to understand whether they are creating an environment that truly supports advancement. The data indicates that when considering their future at a company, women are likely weighing a more complex set of factors, many of which are beyond their—or even their direct manager’s—control. While men tend to focus on their personal experiences within an organization, women are more likely to consider the organization in its entirety.

This holistic view may explain our previous finding that women leaders appear more loyal—it’s certainly harder to leave a company if you’re thinking beyond your own experience within it (and how your departure may impact these collective factors.) It may also offer a solution to our finding that women are less likely to say they feel prepared to do their manager’s job. In 2013, McKinsey found that corporate culture is twice as important as individual mind-sets in building women’s confidence that they can reach a top management position. If organizations retain more women, who we now know are more motivated by factors that impact more people, they’re perhaps more likely to foster a culture that will encourage the next generation of women leaders to aim for the top as well.

Leveraging these learnings to close the CEO gender gap

Getting more women into CEO roles is not about blunt, short-term fixes—it depends on commitments to systemic, organizational change.

Advancement often comes slower than most high potential leaders would like. But we now know that qualified women leaders are less likely to view themselves as ready for the next job. We also know that women are more likely to stay at organizations where they feel deep ties to the entire ecosystem—and that said organization’s culture is twice as important in building women’s confidence to reach top positions. As such, it benefits everyone to help women leaders see themselves more objectively, creating more opportunities (be it through taking on more responsibility or via continual encouragement and advocacy) for them to take the next step.

To leverage these learnings, we recommend shifting the paradigm around hiring and retaining top women leaders through the following actions:

Authors

• Leah Christianson is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Center for Leadership Insight. She is based in San Francisco.
• Margot McShane co-leads Russell Reynolds Associates’ Board & CEO Advisory practice in the Americas. She is based in San Francisco.
• Hetty Pye is a senior member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Board & CEO Advisory practice. She is based in London.
• Joy Tan is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Center for Leadership Insight. She is based in New York.

Appendix: Data Tables

Table 1: YoY factors for willingness to change employers (all)

% of leaders ranking each item as a factor for changing employers YoY

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates’ H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 491 total (Women = 144, Men = 341) C-suite and next-generation leaders}

Table 2: YoY factors for willingness to change employers (women)

% of women leaders ranking each item as a factor for changing employers YoY

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates’ H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 491 total (Women = 144, Men = 341) C-suite and next-generation leaders}

Table 3: YoY factors for willingness to change employers (men)

% of men leaders ranking each item as a factor for changing employers YoY

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates’ H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 491 total (Women = 144, Men = 341) C-suite and next-generation leaders}

Table 4: H1 2023 Factors for willingness to stay at current employer (all)

% of leaders ranking each item as a motivator for remaining at current employer

^{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates’ H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor, n = 152 C-level and next generation leaders}