CFO success: Inspiring change in female mid-market leadership
DE&I44.6% of mid-market businesses globally now have a female Chief finance officer (CFO) – a figure that’s nearing gender parity
Key points
- 91.4% of Italian managers consider gender equality policies when choosing a new job opportunity.
- In Italy women hold 34.0% of senior manager roles, slightly down from 34.8% in 2025.
- The percentage of women in senior management roles is 34.9% in the Eurozone (compared to 34.5% last year) and 32.9% globally (compared to 34.0% last year).
- Only 4.3% of Italian businesses have no women in senior management.
- In Italy, women mainly hold roles as Chief HR Officers (44.1%) and CFOs (36.6%), but only 22.6% as CEOs and 3.2% as Presidents.
- The industry most near to reaching gender equality globally is public sector with 48.5% (48.2% last year) of women in C-suite roles, followed by travel, tourism & leisure with 40.2% and healthcare with 39.7%.
Milan, 4 March 2026 – 91.4% of Italian managers in SMEs declare to consider a company’s gender equality initiatives when applying for a new role, as resulting from the Grant Thornton 2026 Women in Business report, a global survey which has been analysing the progresses of women’s presence in C-suite roles within mid-market businesses for more than 20 years.
91.9% of managers globally also consider this aspect, while almost two-thirds of those interviewed consider gender equality initiatives as a top priority when choosing an employer. The increasing relevance of this topic is also reflected in recruiting processes: almost one in four mid-market businesses (23.0%) indicates that prospective employees requested information on gender balance programmes, a remarkable increase compared to the previous year (+8.7%). In Italy the share is equal to 9.7%, more than double the 4.2% recorded in 2025.
Gender equality policies are also held in high regard by other stakeholders: 14.0% of Italian SMEs were questioned on this issue by prospective clients (21.2% globally), 15.1% by potential new investors (26.5% globally) and 17.01% by at least one stakeholder (77.7% globally).
In the light of the above, most businesses maintain their commitment towards gender balance, with 77.3% of Italian SMEs intending to keep on their existing gender equality initiatives (75.8% globally). Nonetheless, quite surprisingly, 20.2% of businesses declare they have relaxed their existing initiatives or are planning to do so (21.9% globally). A choice that, in the current competitive context to attract capital, clients and talents, can have a negative impact.
Despite various signs of growing attention to gender equality among businesses and their stakeholders, changes in representation levels remain slow.
4
4
,
1
%
CHRO
Women in Italy hold 44.1% of Chief HR Officer roles
3
6
,
6
%
CFO
Women in Italy hold 36.6% of Chief Financial Officer positions
2
2
,
6
%
CEO
Women in Italy account for 22.6% of Chief Executive Officers
Overall, women account for 34.0% of senior manager positions in Italy, compared to 34.9% in the Eurozone and 32.9% globally. A slight decrease was nonetheless recorded globally compared to the previous year, when the percentage was equal to 34.0%; such negative trend is reflected in all economies, except for the Eurozone, which recorded instead an increase compared to the 34.5% of last year. In Italy the figure is down for the second consecutive year, from the peak of 35.7% in 2024 and 34.8% in 2025.
This is in any case not an unusual fluctuation in a long-term growth-path which saw data increase by 13.4 pp over the last 22 years globally and by 15.5 pp in Italy; a trend that suggests global parity will be reached by 2051.
An analysis by position shows a still uneven distribution: Women in Italy hold 44.1% of Chief HR Officer roles, the only function nearing parity (the share was equal to 24% in 2020 and 10% in 2015), and 36.6% of Chief Financial Officer positions (29% in 2020 and 9% in 2015), indicating a well-established presence also in economic-financial functions.
However, the share drops in other functions and the gap widens in particular in top management positions: women account for 22.6% of Chief Executive Officers and only 3.2% of Presidents, confirming that access to top positions of responsibility remains the most critical area on the path to full equality. Women are also underrepresented in technology roles, where they hold just 20.4% of Chief Information Officer and 10.8% of Chief Technology Officer positions.
Shifting the analysis to industries, the closest to parity is the public sector, where female representation is often supported by specific regulations, with 48.5% (48.2%) of management roles held by women globally. Travel, Tourism & Leisure follows, with 40.2%, and Healthcare, with 39.7%. The industry with the lowest representation is Asset Management, with only 25.1% of female top managers.
Organisations that actively promote inclusion - through advanced leadership models, organisational flexibility and real growth opportunities - not only can strengthen their ability to attract and retain talent, but also help build stronger and more sustainable leadership. Our generation does not intend to simply wait for change: it wants to be an active part of it, contributing to measurable transformation. The goal is not only reaching individual professional growth, but creating an environment in which success is fairly and systematically accessible, and is not the exception.
Alice Venturini
Senior Manager Audit - Grant Thornton Italy
Gender equality is no longer just a matter of values, but a strategic variable that affects the competitiveness of businesses. In a context where talent, investors and stakeholders are paying increasing attention to organisational choices, inclusion policies are becoming a concrete indicator of a company's solidity and long-term vision. The challenge now is to transform this commitment into tangible results, especially in decision-making roles where change is slower to take hold.
Maria Rosaria Spera
Manager Tax - Grant Thornton Italy
Report Women in Business 2026
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