Why So Few Women CEOs? The Case for Urgent Transformation

Buhle Hanise, National Head of Business Restructuring – BDO South Africa

Despite decades of progress and the implementation of gender targets, the number of women in CEO roles remains disappointingly low. While targets are a step in the right direction, they are not a silver bullet. In many organisations, these targets are treated as tick-box exercises rather than being embedded into the culture and leadership pipeline. They don’t address the deeper, systemic issues—like unconscious bias, lack of sponsorship, and organisational norms that favour traditional (often male) leadership styles.

Executive leadership requires more than just opportunity, it demands trust and confidence in diverse leadership styles. Women’s approaches to leadership are often collaborative, empathetic, and inclusive, yet these traits are undervalued in boardrooms that still lean toward assertiveness and individualism. Until we fix the pipeline, how we recruit, mentor, and promote women—targets alone won’t be enough. Visibility into the change required is essential. Personally, I’ve been fortunate to have sponsors who opened doors for me throughout my career, and I’m deeply grateful for their belief in my potential.

One of the biggest barriers facing women on the path to the C-suite is visibility and access. Women are often over-mentored and under-sponsored. The distinction is critical: mentorship is when someone talks with you, while sponsorship is when someone talks about you and for you in rooms where decisions are made. Both are essential, but sponsorship is what propels careers forward. I experienced this early in my career as an article clerk at a competitor firm. A manager simply told another about my strengths in a specific audit section, and that opened up new opportunities for me. At the time, I didn’t even know there was a term for it, I just appreciated that hard work and a strong ethic were noticed and rewarded. That experience shaped my approach to career growth and leadership.

Another challenge is the expectation that women must over-perform to be considered for the same opportunities as their male counterparts. Add to that the caregiving responsibilities many women carry, which are still not fully accounted for in leadership development frameworks, and the path to the top becomes even more complex. The journey to the C-suite must be cleared not just through performance metrics, but through deliberate inclusion strategies. I’ve benefited from both mentorship and sponsorship, and I know firsthand how transformative they can be.

Are companies doing enough to prepare and back women for CEO or Chairperson roles? Progress has been made, but it’s not nearly enough. As a finance professional, I was often considered for CFO roles. But through intentional support and strategic exposure, I was able to navigate past that bias and now serve as the National Head/CEO of the Business Restructuring Division at BDO South Africa. My team was intentional in their succession planning, identifying potential early and assigning me to high-impact roles that built my readiness. That kind of support must become the norm, not the exception.

So, what changes in thinking or policy could help speed things up? Whatever they are—they need to happen now. I recently attended a conference where a panel of women CEOs shared how they were only given opportunities to lead when the business was in distress. Don’t get me wrong, women are doers, and we excel at turning things around. But it’s telling that these opportunities often come with a “clean-up” expectation. We need intentionality in our thinking and policies. Transformation must be deliberate, not performative. It’s time to move beyond symbolic gestures and commit to real, measurable change.

Intentional transformation is key. It’s not just about getting women into leadership—it’s about backing them, believing in them, and building systems that support their success. Only then will we see a meaningful shift in the number of women CEOs.