Number of female CEOs at FTSE companies in the UK 2016-2021

As of 2021, 18 women were in the position of chief executive officers (CEOs) at FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. This was the same number of female CEOs as there were in 2016, when six FTSE 100 companies had a female CEO, and 12 FTSE 250 companies had a female CEO.

Gender Pay Gap

In 2020 the difference between men and women’s median full-time hourly earnings amounted to 15.5 percent. By comparison, the gender pay gap in 2006 was 12.8 percent, indicating that some progress has been made to address the problem. The gender pay gap was also different across industries, with the financial sector having the largest gender pay gap at 33.2 percent.

Attitudes to gender equality

In terms of attitudes towards the gender pay gap, it was seen as the most important issue to 29 percent of Britons in 2019, while 70 percent of people were confident that if employers paid men and women the same then that would make a positive impact towards achieving gender equality overall.