Women are Losing Ground in Leadership: Here’s Why That’s Going to Cost Us

For the third year in a row, the rate of hiring women into leadership roles has declined, a troubling reversal after years of progress made between 2015 and 2021. Globally, we’re back to where we were five years ago in the share of women hired into leadership positions.

And it’s not just leadership: women’s overall global average representation in the workforce has also stalled, a red flag for any economy or organization focused on growth.

Organizations are holding back the very talent we need to move forward.

AI is transforming the labor market, and that includes what we demand of leaders. The new leadership profile is flexible, cross-functional, and nonlinear. Leaders with experience across industries, functions, and companies more than doubled between 2019 and 2024.

Women are already ahead of this curve. LinkedIn data shows they’re up to 20% more likely than men to bring this multidomain experience to the C-suite. Women are also more likely to possess the uniquely human skills - like communication, collaboration, and creativity - that will be vital in the age of AI.

But instead of tapping into this strength, too many employers are overlooking it.

The leadership gap isn’t just a pipeline problem; it’s a systemic one.

LinkedIn data reveals a troubling trend: the leadership gap actually widens as women attain higher levels of tertiary education. Women with tertiary degrees make up 40.2% of the workforce, yet just 29.5% reach top leadership. In fact, the drop between women’s overall representation and their presence in leadership grows with each step of higher education - with the gap rising from 31% among high school graduates to 39% for bachelor’s, and 41% and 44% for masters and doctoral degree holders, respectively. Among women with bachelor’s or master’s degrees, leadership representation stalls at around 30%. In other words, the more qualified women are, the further they fall behind, a clear sign that the problem isn’t talent, but the systems meant to recognize it.

And, while women are underrepresented across every generation, the gap gets worse with age. Only 1 in 5 Baby Boomer leaders are women, compared to just over 1 in 3 among Gen Z. In fields like STEM, the numbers are even smaller - just 12% of CEOs are women.

If we don’t act, this gap will only grow, and that puts economic opportunity at risk. Companies, industries, and entire economies will fall behind as valuable talent is pushed out of the top jobs shaping the AI economy. The organizations and economies that recognize and reward diverse leadership pathways will be the ones that innovate, compete, and thrive.

To future-proof the economy, we need systemic solutions.

We can’t build the economy of tomorrow with a workforce that’s stuck in the past. Reversing the decline in women’s leadership will take bold, targeted action:

• Make the path visible. Workers need a clear view of the skills that lead to leadership - and how to get them. Transparent, disaggregated data can help make advancement more inclusive and achievable.
• Promote confidence and competence in AI tools. Invest in widespread AI literacy programs so that women in mid- and senior-career roles can confidently adopt and lead with emerging technologies.
• Hire for what matters. LinkedIn’s research shows that it could broaden the talent pool for women across industries by 6.3x globally. And it’s not just about technical skills: women are more likely to possess uniquely human skills, like adaptability, communication, and cross-functional experience, that are increasingly critical for leaders. Employers must build systems that recognize and reward these essential leadership traits.

No business, institution, or economy can afford to sideline half the talent pool. Closing the leadership gap is essential to unlocking the full promise of the AI-powered economy.

Learn more about the current state of the gender gap in the 2025 WEF Global Gender Gap Report. Thanks to Silvia Lara , Matthew Baird , Pei Ying CHUA , Danielle K. and others from the Economic Graph Research Institute for providing the LinkedIn data referenced above.