Leadership Matters: Benchmarking Women in Business Leadership in the Pacific offers an in-depth analysis of the progress and challenges in elevating women to leadership roles within business across the 14 Pacific developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This 2024 edition expands upon the baseline established in the original 2021 report to track advancements in women’s positions as board directors, board chairs, and chief executive officers (CEOs) in the Pacific. Set against a backdrop of global gender disparities, this report highlights key changes since the first edition and integrates insights from both men and women business leaders on the evolving influences impacting women in business leadership in the Pacific.
The study used a comprehensive, mixed-method approach to evaluate women’s leadership in business across the Pacific. Data were collected through a desk-based review of publicly available information on the composition of boards and senior management across 397 organizations in 14 countries, spanning various sectors and organization types, including industry associations, publicly listed companies, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), private non-listed companies, and branch offices of regional or international companies. The study includes insights from 285 Pacific women leaders who participated in the Leadership Matters survey conducted for this report, and 54 business leaders (men and women) with whom the authors held in-depth interviews. This methodology not only grounds the report’s findings but also provides deeper insights into the factors facilitating and challenging the progression of women in leadership roles, thereby enhancing the nuanced understanding of these dynamics in the Pacific.
Read the Report here.