Women accounted for just 27% of FTSE 100 CIOs in 2022, only 10% more than in 2018, according to research by Frank Recruitment Group.
The staffing firm looked at hundreds of companies as part of its research, but only 15 had women as CIOs in 2022. These included AstraZeneca, HSBC, Intertek, and 12 others.
The report found that between 2018 – 2022, only 42 women held CIO positions, compared to 138 men.
The overall average tenure for a CIO was revealed to be three years, with the average tenure for a male CIO being three years, and the average for a female CIO being two years.
Furthermore, only four women had a tenure of five or more years, compared to 37 men.
In light of these findings, Frank Recruitment has put together a list containing actionable advice for businesses to follow:
1. Provide mentorship opportunities for women
“Mentorship can increase confidence, boost leadership skills, and help women overcome gender-specific obstacles in the workplace.”
“Some companies designate experienced employees as mentors, while others prefer to bring in someone from the outside.”
2. Rethink your hiring process
“Analyse your hiring practices and leadership policies to see what can be done to achieve a more diverse workforce.”
“Start by training your HR team on inclusive hiring practices, such as addressing unconscious bias during job interviews.”
“Also, make sure your company has a diverse panel of interviewers. This will not only reduce bias during the hiring process but also lead to a more objective perspective.”
“Meanwhile, try to create more inclusive job adverts by using gender-neutral language and mentioning women-friendly benefits.”
3. Support women with leadership potential
“Another way to get more women in the C-suite is to support those with leadership potential.”
“For example, you can provide training programs and networking opportunities to help women thrive in their roles.”
You can read the full details of this list here.
Frank Recruitment collated the lists of FTSE 100 companies for the years 2018 – 2022 from Hargreaves Lansdown for 2022 and Internet Archive for the years 2018 – 2021. All lists are drawn from the third financial quarter of their respective years. Using LinkedIn, the firm then found the LinkedIn profile for each company and conducted a search using the filters, ‘Chief Information Officer’ and ‘CIO’.
