A new report reveals that Ireland continues to make strong progress on gender diversity in senior leadership, but major challenges remain, particularly for women aspiring to the role of chief executives.
Grant Thornton's Women in Business 2026 report shows that representation of women in senior management roles in Ireland has risen to 41.4%, up almost 5% since 2025 and ahead of the global average at 32.9%.
The report noted that medium sized companies in Ireland have also shown the most significant long-term improvement of any of the countries included in the research since the study began in 2004, when women accounted for just 15.6% of senior leaders here.
The percentage of Irish businesses with no women at all in senior management has also dropped dramatically, falling from 16.3% in 2025 to 6.9% this year.
Grant Thortnon said its report highlights a persistent imbalance: women are still far more likely to hold roles in certain functions rather than reach CEO or Chair positions.
It said that women in Ireland are four times more likely to be a CFO (63.7%) or HR Director (58.8%) than a CEO (14.7%). They are also 30 times more likely to hold these roles than to become a Chair (2%).
Amanda Ward, Co-head of Consulting at Grant Thornton, said it was encouraging to see Ireland not only outpacing global trends but also significantly reducing the number of all male leadership teams.
"The progress is undeniable. But the data also shows that women continue to be heavily represented in specific leadership roles while underrepresented in CEO or Chair positions. The true long-term sign of progress will ultimately be if women are equally able to land the top job," Ms Ward said.
She also said today's research shows that gender diversity is not a box-ticking exercise.
"Prospective employees are increasingly asking about the gender balance of senior leadership teams and looking for tangible evidence of equality commitments before accepting roles. Businesses that embed meaningful gender equality strategies are not only strengthening decision-making at the top but also positioning themselves for long-term success," she added.
Steve Tennant, Managing Partner, Grant Thornton Ireland and EMEA CEO of the Grant Thornton Advisors multinational platform, said that diverse leadership teams lead to stronger governance, better decisionmaking and improved performance.
"Expectations have moved on - customers, investors and talent increasingly judge firms on the seriousness of their commitment to gender diversity," he said.
"This isn't optional. Organisations that fail to act will fall behind. While the progress made so far is encouraging, we need to keep the momentum going if we are to finally and decisively break the glass ceiling," he added.
