CIMA report warns female finance professionals currently six times less likely than men to make it to the top

According to a global survey of 4,500 finance and business professionals conducted by CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) and the University of Bath School of Management, which has informed a hard-hitting report, female members are six times less likely than their male counterparts to be working as CFOs or CEOs.  This imbalance is a further evidenced by a disparity in pay between men and women working in business. According to our survey, in Malaysia men earn 51% more than their female counterparts. While this may be a sign of the current generational trend, CIMA believes women entering business now are in a stronger position to turn things around.

CIMA wants to redress the gender imbalance evidenced across international business, and has launched a new report, ‘Reflections from Asia Pacific leaders – strategies for career progression’ on 9 November. CIMA’s dynamic report provides practical and personalised advice for women on how to make it to the top of the career ladder based on research and interviews with senior female finance professionals from across the Asia Pacific region. The report is part of a wider campaign CIMA is conducting to provide a network of support for women (see www.cimaglobal.com/women for more information).
CIMA report warns female finance professionals currently six times less likely than men to make it to the top

The report outlines how skills and development differ between women and men in the Asia Pacific region. For example, women in Asia (29%) are significantly less likely to use risk management skills in their roles compared to their male counterparts (44%). Business acumen is another skill that Asian men (50%) use much more than their female colleagues (37%) although there are very few differences between the career strategies both genders employ. Notably, this is not the case in the West, where men often employ largely different and more proactive tactics in order to succeed in their career. In the Asia Pacific region, the majority of women surveyed are likely to have sought international experience (83%) compared to less than half of their Western counterparts (43%). And 84% have regularly sought to change their employer to gain promotion or experience, with only 60% doing so in the West.

Other key findings from the report include:

• Having more women in senior roles is linked to stronger financial performance.
• Women still lag behind men in terms of seniority and salary. This becomes particularly significant after ten years’ work experience.
• Employers can help by encouraging mentoring, offering flexible working practices, and actively developing female staff.

Charley Tilley, CIMA Chief Executive, comments:
‘The finance function has traditionally been a male dominated environment, particularly at higher levels. This needs to change.  CIMA has one of the highest growth rates in female members of all the accounting institutes, with 65,000 female members and students internationally. However, there is still some way to go before we see equal representation of female leaders in business.

‘CIMA hopes that businesses in Asia and around the world take note of this research and these statistics and realise the positive impact female leadership can have on an organisation’s performance.  The fact that men can earn over 50% more than their female colleagues in Malaysia is evidence enough that something needs to change.   

‘We hope women in the Asia Pacific region and across the globe will be empowered by CIMA’s report and women’s network. We are hopeful that female professionals will find this report and ongoing campaign a huge support that will benefit them in their careers, and ultimately lead to a rise in female representatives entering the boardroom, not only in Asia, but across the globe.’