The research indicates that women CEOs often share similar professional backgrounds with their male counterparts, yet are more frequently outsiders due to a lack of cultivated female executives within companies. Over the past decade, the proportion of incoming female CEOs has been increasing at major public companies, suggesting a trend toward greater gender diversity in leadership roles. Although there has been a recent drop in the percentage of incoming women CEOs, projections indicate that women could comprise up to one-third of incoming CEOs by 2040.

1. Women CEOs have about the same professional backgrounds as their male
peers in that they:
Are rarely granted a joint
CEO/chairman title
Usually come from the same
region as company headquarters
Only sometimes have experience
working internationally
Are of similar age
Our research shows that on the whole, insider CEOs generate higher
returns over their tenures than outsider CEOs, so companies seeking to hire
women may benefit from looking inside more often than they do today.
Per-Ola Karlsson, Senior Partner
Where women lead
Women lead companies in every region and industry. We studied the
percentage of women CEOs over a decade, and these are our results:
US and Canada Information technology
Japan
3.2%
0.8% Materials0.8%
Percentage of incoming and outgoing CEOs
3.1%
Company headquarters region Industry
0%
1%
2%
3%
0%
1%
2%
3%
Other mature
China
Brazil, Russia, India
Other emerging
Western Europe
Consumer staples
Consumer discretionary
Utilities
Energy
Financials
Telecommunications services
Industrials
Hiring women CEOs
Women CEOs
are different
from their male
peers in that
they are more
often outsiders.
That women CEOs are more often outsiders may be an indication that
companies have not been able to cultivate enough female executives
in-house. So when boards look for new CEOs, they necessarily find a
larger pool of female candidates outside their own organizations.
Gary L. Neilson, Senior Partner
Incoming and outgoing
CEOs by insider versus
outsider status.
Outsider
Insider
the proportion of women in the
incoming class of CEOs has been
larger than in the outgoing class,
indicating women CEOs are becoming
more prevalent at the world’s largest
2,500 public companies.
More women CEOs, slowly but surely
the last 10
8 Years out of
-1.0%
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
20052004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Difference between the shares of incoming and outgoing women CEOs
Percentage of women CEOs in incoming and outgoing classes
More women
CEOs in the
incoming than
outgoing classes
in the past decade
Outgoing CEOs Incoming CEOs
+75%
1.6%
2.8%
have entered or left office at
these companies since 2004.
A total of
118 women
This year, in addition to undertaking
our usual analyses, we looked at our
past 10 years of data on
The 2013 Chief Executive Study:
Women CEOs of the last 10 years
As much as one third of the incoming class of CEOs will be women by
2040, based on a 10-year trend in our data, ever-higher education of
women, continuing entry of women into the business workforce, and
changing social norms of corporate leadership around the world.
Ken Favaro, Senior Partner
How women leave office: more often
forced out
Outgoing CEO succession reason by gender
Women Men
Outgoing CEO
succession reason
Planned
Forced
M&A
Source: The 2013 Chief Executive Study: Women CEOs of the last 10 years
11%
38%
51%
13%
27%
60%
Women CEOs
A 1.3 percentage
point drop in the
incoming class of
2013, despite the
overall rise.
In 2012: 4.3%
In 2013: 3.0%
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Disclaimer: This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a
substitute for consultation with professional advisors.
For more information: www.strategyand.pwc.com/chiefexecutivestudy
Background
We focus on incoming
and outgoing CEOs
rather than all CEOs.
For 14 years
Strategy& has examined
CEO turnover and the
incoming class of CEOs at
the world’s largest
2,500
These critical decision points can
help us understand what companies
are looking for in their CEOs and
how the role is changing.
public
companies
35% 22%
65%
78%