The proportion of women being appointed to leadership roles in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ has declined for the third consecutive year, with increasing obstacles to top jobs as they progress in their careers, LinkedIn's data reveals.
The professional networking platform disclosed that just over a third – 36.8% – of leadership positions were filled by women in the year to 1 March, a decrease of 2.1% compared to the previous year.
This regression has returned the rate of female hires for senior roles to its 2020 level, the figures indicate.
The data also highlighted that while there are more º£½ÇÊÓƵ women in top management roles now than in 2019 – at 30.9% last year compared to 27.6% in 2019 – the pace of progress has significantly slowed in the past two years, rising by merely 0.3 percentage points.
The figures imply that it becomes increasingly challenging for older generations to attain senior management positions, with 19.4% of so-called baby boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – in these roles compared to 28.9% for gen X, 36.7% for millennials and 39.3% for gen Z.
The statistics, compiled by analysing the site's 43 million-strong º£½ÇÊÓƵ membership base, also reveal that, as of March, women constituted 45.8% of º£½ÇÊÓƵ hires, a drop of 4.6% year-on-year.
Globally, the figures tell a similar story, showing that less than a third of senior leadership roles are occupied by women (30.9%) despite them making up nearly half (43.2%) of the global workforce.
According to data from LinkedIn, the "drop to the top" phenomenon is particularly stark in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) sector, with only about one in eight (12%) leadership roles occupied by women.
The professional network is urging the Government and companies to adopt skills-based recruitment to prevent women from being overshadowed, especially as artificial intelligence (AI) begins to transform the workplace.
LinkedIn º£½ÇÊÓƵ's head, Janine Chamberlin, commented: "Just as AI is reshaping the workplace and demanding more adaptable, collaborative leadership, we're seeing women's progress into senior roles stall for the third year running.
"Women are 20% more likely to have that multi-domain experience, working across different industries and functions, which creates exactly the kind of flexible, agile leaders businesses need for AI transformation.
"Yet we're locking them out of leadership precisely when we need those skills most."
LinkedIn believes adopting a hiring approach that emphasises skills over academic credentials could expand the pool of female talent by 6.3 times globally.
