China’s business landscape is undergoing rapid and unpredictable change due to interconnected forces, including shifts in economic development, evolving consumer confidence, and dynamic geopolitical situations. To compete in this complex environment, many companies are undergoing strategic transformations.

Are women being left behind in the turmoil?

In this challenging landscape, understanding the status of women in the workplace is more critical than ever. Key questions need to be addressed:

• How has female representation in executive positions changed over the years?
• What new challenges are female leaders facing?
• What steps can women—and their companies—take to succeed?

To answer these questions, Bain & Company, in collaboration with Spencer Stuart, conducted its third consecutive study on female leadership in China. This report analyzes the current landscape and challenges women are facing in career advancement. It also proposes actions for organizations and individuals to foster a results-oriented and equitable business environment—one that unlocks the long-term potential of female leaders.

Why focus on female leadership and gender diversity?

In today’s competitive business landscape, the link between gender diversity, particularly in leadership, and improved business performance is becoming increasingly clear. We analyzed China’s top 300 publicly traded companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and found a strong link between gender diversity and company performance: Firms with strong female executive representation outperformed the market in financial performance and key capital market metrics (see Figure 1). This likely stemmed from having diverse teams and open and inclusive environments, which have been cited as improving decision-making and adaptability to changing market conditions.

Figure 1

The executive gender gap persists

However, female executives in China are experiencing persistent workplace inequalities amid an increasingly complex economic climate. Women hold only 19% of executive positions in leading companies—a figure that has stagnated for three years and lags developed nations such as the US and the UK (see Figure 2). Forty percent of female executives in China said the current state of business and strategic transformations make career advancement more challenging (see Figure 3).

Figure 2

Figure 3

Despite equal educational attainment and entry-level workforce representation, women in China are underrepresented in executive leadership roles (see Figure 4). This “leaky pipeline” indicates systemic issues that prevent qualified women from reaching top positions. When women’s career advancement stalls, it also limits companies’ ability to leverage diverse perspectives toward innovation and value creation.

Figure 4

Women's presence in top decision-making roles has not improved in the last three years (see Figure 5). However, there has been an increase in female CFO appointments, indicating progress in specific areas. Industry trends vary; the healthcare and consumer goods/retail industries have improved female executive representation, while financial services continues to lag.

Figure 5

There are positive indicators in the workforce. For example, in listed companies, newly appointed female executives are younger than their male counterparts. And female CEOs earn slightly higher salaries and stock incentives. However, this may reflect a more selective approach to appointing female executives and an environment where women must overperform to access a limited number of opportunities.

Power moves: Steps to advance women’s careers

Both companies and women themselves should take deliberate steps to overcome systemic barriers that limit female advancement. We analyzed key moments and challenges in women’s careers to create a list of recommendations for each audience.

How companies can help close the gender gap

While many companies have introduced initiatives to promote inclusion and gender equity, they often fall short on implementation and impact. Companies need to build more inclusive leadership and develop competency-based, equitable talent mechanisms to give high-potential female employees opportunities to grow, get recognition, and reach their full potential—and ultimately create more business value.

To close the gender gap and improve organization-wide performance, companies can:

1. Establish a results-oriented and equitable talent strategy: Clearly define a competency-based talent strategy while ensuring the strategy fully embodies equality and inclusion. This strategy will serve as the core guideline for talent development, ensuring that all high-potential talent, especially female employees, have fair opportunities for growth and experience mutual empowerment with the company.
   
   
2. Adopt a systematic talent management framework to address:

1. • Talent acquisition: Define core competencies for each position and develop a talent recruitment strategy aligned with these competencies to attract high-potential talent that the company truly needs.
   • Deployment: Build a flexible and equitable employee deployment mechanism and match it with a fair and data-driven performance evaluation system.
   • Development: Provide each employee with practical mechanisms to enhance their skills, helping them build networks and improve their capabilities.
   • Retention: Establish clear promotion pathways and match them with fair and scientifically backed compensation and incentive plans to ensure employees are evaluated and rewarded equitably.
     
     

3. Focus on key factors to ensure implementation is effective:

1. • Build a sponsorship spine: Build a core team of supporters, particularly senior executives and men, to act as allies and promoters of gender equality by role modeling the behaviors that foster an open and inclusive corporate culture.
   • Keep battery full: Boost team confidence, ensuring that the energy needed for lasting change exceeds its consumption, always maintaining positive momentum.
   • Raise red flags: Regularly assess the risks of the implementation process to reduce tendencies to conceal problems.
   • Be aware of capacity: Avoid over-reliance on metrics and adjust implementation plans or their cadence to avoid saturation.

Strategic career moves for women

To maximize their career trajectories, women can:

1. Establish clear career goals and plans early. Aspiring female executives must navigate outdated social expectations and self-doubt. To overcome these challenges, they should set ambitious goals at the start of their careers, recognize their potential, and embrace necessary trade-offs for leadership growth.
2. Develop strong family support systems. Societal norms often assign professional ambitions to men and domestic responsibilities to women. To balance careers and motherhood, female leaders should proactively seek family support and build structures that enable them to manage both roles effectively.
3. Step up to P&L assignments. Executive leadership often involves unfamiliar, high-pressure situations that require resilience and adaptability. To advance in the workplace, women must be open to new experiences and assignments that will challenge them, and continuously build necessary skills.
4. Become alert to gender biases. Gender biases and stereotypes create barriers for women who want to advance in the workplace. Building confidence and awareness can help female leaders navigate these challenges, call out biases, and advance their careers.
5. Develop a strong personal brand. Securing sponsorship from corporate executives is essential for career progression. Women should proactively grow their network and develop a personal brand to help them build professional alliances with people who could serve as mentors and endorsers.
6. Lead with confidence. Leading through uncertainty requires strategic decision-making and balancing performance with transformation. Women should not underestimate their ability to navigate high-stress and changing environments confidently and effectively. Women should expect change and use it to foster trust and drive innovation.

In addition to these six steps, women should continuously sharpen their skills and embrace new opportunities at every stage of their careers. With appropriate corporate support systems, their investments in professional growth and skills excellence will be recognized and rewarded.

Conclusion

Gender diversity is not just a social responsibility—it's a strategic imperative. It drives innovation, improves company performance, and fosters long-term success.

Despite the challenges of a rapidly changing and uncertain business environment, companies must remain committed to implementing these strategies and fully recognizing the contributions of women. This commitment will pave the way for a more equitable and prosperous business landscape for everyone.

At Spencer Stuart, we know how much leadership matters. We are trusted by organizations around the world to help them make the senior-level leadership decisions that have a lasting impact on their enterprises. Through our executive search, board and leadership advisory services, we help build and enhance high-performing teams for select clients ranging from major multinationals to emerging companies to nonprofit institutions. Privately held since 1956, we focus on delivering knowledge, insight and results through the collaborative efforts of a team of experts—now spanning more than 60 offices, over 30 countries and more than 50 practice specialties. Boards and leaders consistently turn to Spencer Stuart to help address their evolving leadership needs in areas such as senior-level executive search, board recruitment, board effectiveness, succession planning, in-depth senior management assessment, employee engagement and many other facets of culture and organizational effectiveness.