The glass ceiling for women in top roles at FTSE 250 companies is still “stubbornly in place” according to the latest research, which found the number of women in executive director roles fell more than 10% in the past two years.

While gender diversity overall is improving in boardrooms, as more women are appointed to nonexecutive director (NED) roles, progress in the appointments of women at the top, executive-board level is in reverse, according to the research from Cranfield University and EY.

The academics behind the Female FTSE Board Report identified maternity bias, childcare policies and the male-dominated nature of the executive environment as factors that prevent women from securing the top jobs at listed companies.

The number of women holding executive positions at FTSE 250 firms fell from 47 in 2022 to 42 in 2024, the report found, a decline of 11%.

Women hold 42% of overall directorships on FTSE 250 boards, an increase of 3% from 2022. In addition, 174 FTSE 250 companies now have at least 40% female representation on their board, meaning that 70% of the firms have now met the target set by the government-backed annual FTSE Women Leaders Review.

However, the headline figures do not tell the full story, according to the academics behind the 25th annual edition of the Cranfield report.

“With the percentage of women in director roles meeting the Women Leaders Review targets, the headlines look great – but the persistent reality remains that the glass ceiling for women in executive level positions is still stubbornly in place,” said Sue Vinnicombe, a professor of women and leadership at Cranfield School of Management, who has overseen the Female FTSE Board Report since its first publication in 1999. “An ‘executive gender paradox’ across FTSE 250 boards has emerged, as the gap between the number of women in NED roles and executive roles grows.”

While 793 women held directorships on FTSE 250 boards in 2024, just 10 of them are chief executives, a 17% decline from 2022, and only 23 are chief financial officers, a 12% decline from 2022, and the number of chairs has remained constant at 35.

However, 125 of these women are senior independent directors, which is an increase of 50% since 2022, meaning that the increase in female representation among directors in FTSE 250 boardrooms was solely driven by women securing NED roles.

Just over a third (36%) of companies in the FTSE 100 have women in executive director roles, even though almost three-quarters (74%) of firms have met the target of having 40% of women on their boards.

“Through their own tenacity, drive and experiences some women do make it to the top positions, but once they get to the C-Suite [the highest-ranking executive level] they often find themselves unsupported and in a hostile, macho environment,” said Vinnicombe, adding that issues needed to be addressed to bring “significant and meaningful changes in the numbers of women executive directors”.