Despite the significant strides women have achieved in the workplace, gender inequality persists in many industries. According to the Corporate Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum in 2010, many leading companies across the globe still lack gender equality policies that advocates say would facilitate a better gender balance, particularly across executive and senior management positions.
The nonprofit sector has established a reputation for equitable hiring, promotion and treatment of employees. Academics and professionals have cited charitable, humanitarian and development organizations for being less discriminatory, prioritizing gender equity and empowering women. International nongovernmental organizations are commonly recognized for both grooming and attracting female leaders.
To find out if these perceptions and assessments are valid, Devex decided to dig into some numbers. Based on staff size and annual revenue in 2013, we established a list of 50 leading INGOs working in global development and analyzed the gender breakdown within their C-suite. We focused particularly on the CEO, chief finance officer, chief operations officer, chief human resources officer and chief communications officer positions at the global headquarters of these organizations as well as on various senior management positions at regional field offices.