The new 2026 Women in Business report has been published by Grant Thornton. Read the full report here: Women in Business report

It reports that only 16.5% of CEO's, from mid market businesses, are female which has dropped by dropped by a staggering 8%- from 24.5% to 16.5% in just one year.

In a separate study by HiBob, 93% of women reported that they felt confident in their work. Read the report here: Women in the workplace report

Traditionally, women have been asked to work on their confidence, self belief, putting themselves forward and this can help in many cases. 

However, the GT study showed that 88% of firms with one female senior leader appointed her internally showing that the woman already needed to be in the pipeline to start with. The report suggests that it is about opportunity, visibility and the clarity of career paths for women that is actually holding them back. 

The HiBob report showed that 69% of women believe mothers are most negatively impacted by reduced visibility, and also suggested that women often chose predictability of a workplace over career. Additionally, 35% of women say being visible to senior leadership is one of the behaviours most rewarded in promotion decisions, and 31% cited the need for constant availability. 

So what does that mean - work on your own confidence, career planning and ability to put yourself out there - yes. AND we need to make sure that the organisations we are working in know we exist, have career development paths for us and that we remain visible to the decision makers. 

Some of this is not in our control, we can't change a culture overnight on our own. So what can we do:

- look at the company we are in - is it the right one for the longer term

- look at ways to increase visibility without increase your hours worked

- ask about career paths, programs to support development

- ensure that you have mentors and a sponsor who can help you navigate 

- accept that what you are doing is a choice, not everyone of us wants to climb the pole to the top, and certainly at different moments our choice might be to go back down it. 

Braver Spaces Co-founder, Della Judd says, 'I had an opportunity when my kids were very little - a promotion to senior manager. However, a meningitis scare for my son meant that I was a long commute away from him at that crucial moment. He was OK, thank goodness, but I decided there and then to find a new role closer to home. I took a £20k pay reduction and dropped a grade down. I needed to make that choice at that time. Later I climbed back up again when the kids were a bit older and I was in a better place.'

Careers do not have to follow a single, uninterrupted upward line, we always have choices and actions we can take. 

What is your experience? Do these stats resonate?