New Altrata study finds gender diversity gains reverse at the top US companies

After a long period of steady gains, the share of women in senior executive roles at S&P 500 companies has declined.

NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Altrata, a leader in intelligence on the wealthy and well-connected, releases a new report, Gender Diversity in Corporate America 2025, providing timely, data-driven insight into the gender dynamics among senior executives in the S&P 500.

Among numerous findings, Gender Diversity in Corporate America 2025 reveals:

• First decline in many years: Female representation on S&P 500 boards has fallen in the past year, from a high of 34.7% in Q1 2024 to 33.6% in Q2 2025.
• Leadership gap widens: The share of women on leadership teams has also dropped over the past year, from a peak of 28.5% in Q1 2024 to 27.7% in Q2 2025.
• Impact of female CEOs on boards: Companies led by female CEOs average 39% women on boards vs 33.3% among companies led by male CEOs.
• Leadership team diversity improves with women at the top: Companies led by female CEOs also see higher female executive representation (33.6% vs 27.6% for S&P 500 companies led by male CEOs).
• Role of the chair: Over their tenure so far, companies with female chairs have seen a 10.2 point increase in the share of women on leadership teams in contrast to a smaller 6.2% improvement among those companies with male chairs.
• Lack of female CEOs: Women account for just 9.8% of CEOs, in contrast to 72.1% of CHROs and 58.6% of CMOs.

Leveraging Altrata's unique executive intelligence, this report uncovers insights on gender diversity at S&P 500 companies. It examines annual and quarterly changes at the board and leadership team level, investigates the key roles of influence and examines the gender diversity of companies led by a female CEO or chair. It also provides an in-depth analysis of the new female class of 2025, shedding light on the skill sets and characteristics of the women who have joined leadership teams this year. 

This study delivers vital benchmarking data for corporate leaders, CEOs, CHROs, chair members, boards, executive recruiters, investors and governance professionals looking to assess where their organization stands and where the broader market is headed.

Altrata data empowers decision-makers to benchmark against their peers, uncover gaps, and build stronger, more representative leadership teams that reflect the complexity of today's markets.

Access the complete findings now.

About Altrata

Altrata provides essential intelligence and insight on business leaders, the global wealthy and well-connected. The leading commercial, philanthropic, and educational institutions depend on Altrata solutions to meet their growth objectives. Clients partner with Altrata to confidently engage with exceptional individuals and organizations, create meaningful relationships and seize strategic opportunities.

Altrata's global dataset contains millions of individual profiles on the wealthy, senior decision makers, board members and C-suite leaders. Altrata offers actionable, accurate and comprehensive data maintained by a global team of in-house researchers committed to surfacing the right insight at the right time to drive positive business outcomes. Altrata is a definitive leader in global wealth intelligence, professional relationship mapping and affluent market dynamics.

SOURCE Altrata Limited