Women in Sustainability Leadership

In our experience at Allen & York, Sustainability Recruitment Consultancy, we see a wealth of women working within sustainability, many of whom are leaders in their field. However, when we cross examined almost 600 sustainability leaders from our network, we also found that the numbers at Director Level were disproportionately low; only 19% were women and 81% were men. Our figures also show that 39% of ‘middle’ managers are women and 61% men. So does this suggest that there is a glass ceiling in sustainability?

The figures are very similar to those published more broadly across UK business. The latest data from the Professional Boards Forum’s BoardWatch shows that women made up 20.4% of FTSE 100 directors on January 9 2014. Although these figures are initially disappointing, they do indicate an upward trend with an increase from 17.4% last May and 12.5% three years ago and although we are making slower progress than we might like, we see huge potential for women in leadership positions within sustainability in the future;

“In my experience (19 years within sustainable recruitment), I see a wealth of talented women within sustainability at all levels. I suspect one of the reasons for the lower representation of women at Director Level is the relatively youthful status of the sustainability industry. When we first started recruiting within sustainability in the early 90s the market was dominated by male engineers moving across to environmental disciplines. More recently, sustainability has evolved into a more complex and varied discipline and many men and women are now rising through the ranks, to attain senior positions. I anticipate many more Director level roles being taken by women in the near future as the industry continues to mature.” Paul Gosling, MD UK & Europe at Allen & York