Despite women making up a significant proportion of the finance profession, they remain starkly underrepresented at CFO and FD level.
In this article, Jenny Martin, Director at Headstar, explores what is really stopping women from reaching the C-suite – drawing on real recruitment data, lived experience, and the structural challenges still embedded in senior finance roles.
The reality at the top of finance
Here’s a question for you. I recently recruited for a high-profile CFO role in Yorkshire and received 43 applications. How many do you think were from women? Half? A quarter? Try again. The answer was four.
And this isn’t a one-off. Despite women making up 44% of qualified accountants1, they are barely represented at the very top of the finance profession. Typically, 90% of the applications I receive for CFO or FD roles are from men – even though when women do make the shortlist, I’ve seen from my recent hiring processes, that they’ve landed the job after outperforming their male counterparts at interview.
It’s not about capability
The issue isn’t capability. Boards aren’t turning women away. In fact, if anything, businesses are increasingly eager to bring gender diversity into their senior teams. The problem is that too many women never even make it to the starting line.
So what’s behind such a severe drop-off?
The reality is that systemic barriers still push far too many women off the leadership track before they’ve even had the chance to run.
Parental leave and the unequal career penalty
Parental leave is one of the biggest. Shared parental leave was meant to revolutionise how families split responsibilities, yet only 2% of UK dads take it. The financial sacrifice is too significant, the process too confusing, and the cultural norms too ingrained. Compare that to Sweden, where parents share 480 days of leave, with 90 days reserved for dads. When caregiving is genuinely shared, the long-term career penalty stops falling so heavily on women.
Childcare is another major pressure point. Even with expanded entitlements, the system rarely aligns with the realities of professional life. Term-time-only hours, short school days and long holidays all place an enormous burden on working mums.
The absence of flexible senior roles
Then there’s the lack of flexible senior roles. Part-time FDs, job-share CFOs, or four-day-week leadership posts remain almost non-existent across the UK – especially in SMEs. For many talented women, this is the point at which their progression stalls. Not because they lack ambition or ability, but because the roles that match their expertise and their real-life responsibilities simply don’t exist.
Confidence and visibility also play a part. Women often hold back from applying unless they meet every requirement, while men are far more willing to back themselves and just go for it anyway. And when every finance leader you’re ever worked with has been a man, imagining yourself in that seat becomes a much bigger ask. You can’t be what you can’t see.
Why this matters for businesses
All of these factors are conspiring to create an environment where women simply aren’t putting themselves forward for top roles. And that’s not just bad for women, it’s bad for businesses too.
Because there’s plenty of evidence showing that gender-balanced leadership teams perform better – from stronger financial results to sharper decision-making, healthier workplace cultures and better governance.
And the impact isn’t only felt in business metrics. Representation shapes confidence and ambition. When women see finance leaders who look like them, who have navigated similar challenges and still reached the top, the path feels more tangible. It becomes something to step toward, not something abstract in the distance.
That’s one of the reasons I created HerFinance Circle – a free community where women in finance can build networks, share challenges, access mentorship and see real, tangible role models ahead of them.
What needs to change now
So what needs to change? Clearly, the system itself needs to improve, from parental leave to childcare and the availability of flexible senior roles.
But business leaders can take meaningful action right now. Think about the diversity of your shortlist. Consider who is being recommended for opportunities – and who isn’t. Ask whether your senior roles genuinely need to be full-time and think about job shares, compressed hours and different leadership structures.
If we genuinely want more women in C-suite finance roles, we need to design roles they can progress into – not expect them to fit a template created decades ago.
The talent is already there, as is the ambition. Now it’s time to make room at the table – and actively invite women in.
