Like many women who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s, I grew up believing that hard work alone would open the boardroom door. I left school without qualifications and had to fight my way back into education before building a career in technology, an industry that was then, and often still is, overwhelmingly male. I watched less capable colleagues rise past me while my directness was labelled “difficult” rather than “assertive”. When redundancy finally came, I turned my back on the corporate ladder and built a business of my own.

For women on UK boards, the real lesson from that experience is clear: talent is not the barrier. The barrier is a culture that rewards sameness and mistakes confidence for competence. Today, my work centres on helping women leaders define their value and use it strategically. But my real mission is to persuade more women to stay inside large organisations long enough to change them, especially at board level.

The question is no longer whether women belong in boardrooms. The evidence says they do. The question is whether UK business is prepared to let them lead rather than simply be present. For a broader picture of where women stand across the economy, see our Women in Business: Key UK Facts page.

Progress for women on UK boards and the power gap

Boards set the tone for an entire organisation. They approve strategy, oversee risk and decide which behaviours are rewarded. When women hold genuine influence in those rooms, the evidence suggests companies perform better. Diverse boards are more likely to challenge groupthink, spot emerging risks and reflect the customers and communities they serve.

The numbers have improved, but only up to a point. The FTSE Women Leaders Review 2024 found that women hold 42.1% of board seats across the FTSE 350, with the FTSE 100 at 42.6% and the FTSE 250 at 40.8%. That is a remarkable shift from the 12.5% recorded in 2011. Yet progress is uneven. The same review found that women still occupy only 10 of the 100 chief executive roles in the FTSE 100 and roughly 13 chair positions. Meanwhile, smaller listed companies, large private firms and many public-sector bodies continue to lag well behind the top tier.

The UK Corporate Governance Code and FCA listing rules now expect listed companies to report on board diversity and explain any shortfalls. Investors increasingly challenge all-male shortlists. These pressures have helped, but they cannot replace a genuine commitment to inclusive leadership.

In other words, we have made headway on board seats, but not necessarily on board power. Representation without influence is tokenism. The goal is not a photograph that looks diverse; it is a room where diverse perspectives shape decisions. Our article on board diversity and the path to CEO explores why the pipeline from the boardroom to the top job can still stall.

That matters because the challenges facing UK business, climate risk, supply-chain ethics, workforce wellbeing and artificial intelligence governance, demand a wider range of judgement than any homogeneous group can provide. Women do not bring a single “women’s view”, but they do bring lived experience that has too often been missing from the top table. If we want corporations to be socially responsible as well as profitable, we need leaders who understand the real-world impact of those choices.

Why difference matters at the top

Boardroom diversity is about more than gender. The best boards combine different ages, ethnicities, disabilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, sectors and ways of thinking. The Parker Review, which tracks ethnic diversity on UK boards, reported in 2024 that 96% of FTSE 250 companies had at least one ethnically diverse director, meeting the review’s 2024 target after the FTSE 100 had already met its equivalent target in 2021. That is progress, yet there is still a long way to go before boardrooms truly mirror the UK population.

Difference is not a box-ticking exercise. It is a safeguard against the blind spots that lead to poor decisions, reputational damage and missed opportunities. A board that listens only to people who sound like its existing members will keep making the same assumptions. One that welcomes challenge, and gives it authority, is better equipped to steer a sustainable, ethical business. For smaller firms, our Diversity and Inclusion UK: A 2026 Small Business Guide sets out how to build inclusive practice from day one.

For women, this often means resisting pressure to conform. Early in my career I tried to fit a mould that was never designed for me. The women I now see thriving at board level are those who stopped apologising for their perspective and started framing it as an asset. That does not mean being the loudest voice in the room. It means being a prepared, principled and persistent one.

Making your move to board level

If you want to reach board level, the path is rarely accidental. Here are practical steps that work in the current UK environment:

1. Clarify your value proposition. Boards recruit for specific skills: finance, operations, digital transformation, ESG, governance, international growth. Know which problems you solve and be able to articulate the evidence.
2. Get P&L or strategic experience. Non-executive directors are expected to scrutinise performance. Experience running a budget, leading a turnaround or scaling a business gives you credibility.
3. Build a portfolio career deliberately. Many women reach boards via non-executive director roles in smaller organisations, charities or public bodies first. These roles build governance literacy and networks. The Women in Business Networks UK guide lists communities that can open doors.
4. Find mentors and sponsors. Mentors help you think; sponsors put your name forward when opportunities arise. Both matter, and neither has to come from your current employer.
5. Invest in governance training. The Institute of Directors, Women on Boards UK and several business schools offer programmes that demystify board service and connect you with openings.
6. Be visible for the right reasons. Publish, speak, join sector panels and contribute to policy discussions. Boards look for people who can bring external insight, not just internal reputation.

Board service is demanding, but it is also where real change happens. If you know who you are, what you stand for and where you can add value, you are already further along the path than you think.

The original question asked whether we really need women on UK boards. The answer remains yes, not because women are inherently better leaders, but because no organisation can afford to ignore half the population’s talent. UK business has proved it can shift the numbers. The next challenge is to shift the culture so that those numbers translate into lasting, meaningful change.