Women Remain Significantly Underrepresented in Decision-Making Roles
Work News | New Stardom
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New data from the World Economic Forum shows that women still hold less than a quarter of global political power, with leadership parity far behind educational and health gains.
The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Gender Gap Report, released this week, estimates that full global gender parity is still 123 years away. While that’s a modest improvement from last year’s projection of 132 years, the data shows that women remain significantly underrepresented in decision-making roles, particularly in politics and senior leadership.
Despite women making up over 41% of the global workforce, only 28.8% occupy senior leadership positions, and just 22.9% of the political empowerment gap has been closed. The most powerful ministerial portfolios, economy, defense, and infrastructure, remain overwhelmingly male-led.
Some countries have moved up in the global rankings. The UK rose from 14th to 4th, driven by a gender-balanced cabinet and more women elected to parliament. Moldova entered the top 10 for the first time, tripling its political empowerment score since 2006. Namibia, one of only two non-European economies in the top 10, maintained high levels of female representation in ministerial roles.
The WEF report warns that closing leadership gaps is not only about equality, it's a matter of economic strategy. “Gender parity is not just a social issue,” the report notes, “but a key factor in resilience, productivity, and innovation.”
Sources:
WEF
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