Women, top leaders map: in the lead are Austria and Iceland (and … Kazakhstan)

The journey towards gender equality is still a long one, but there are countries where some progress has been made. With women who broke the oft-discussed glass ceiling. According to research by William Russell Insurance, part of Allianz, there are actually countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, where women are rapidly closing the gap.

If countries such as Austria, the United Kingdom and Argentina are on the podium for the number of women in leadership positions, then Kazakhstan has the highest percentage of companies with a female majority, equal to 23.80% ahead of Poles and Latvians. Iceland also stands out, as in 2022 it boasts the highest percentage of women among members of the boards of directors of listed companies, equal to 47.10%. According to Statistics Iceland, in 2021 the proportion of women on boards of four or more members, within companies with 50 or more employees, was 41.5% for public limited companies and 38.3% for limited liability companies.

On the other hand, Finland is at the forefront on the political front. The country has appointed or elected the largest number of heads of state and government in the world, having three female prime ministers and one female president. Just think of the figure of Sana among the youngest prime ministers at the head of the state.

Is it Italy? According to William Russell, our country ranks third in terms of representation on the boards of directors of listed companies, a figure affected by the Golfo-Mosca Law of 2011 that introduced a commitment to quotas for women on boards. If you look at the data from the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022, you can see how our country lags behind on the political front and in labor market participation.