A quarter of top-lever managers in Belarus are women

In Belarusian boards of directors, women make up 26 percent. This rate is higher than the global average where women account for only 19.7% of board seats.

These are the data of a Deloitte study conducted in Belarus.

Deloitte experts analyzed 45 companies and found out that the total number of women on the boards of directors of companies participating in the study is 84. The percentage of women in Belarusian companies is not inferior, and in some areas it even exceeds rates in Europe and the world.

In general, internationally, despite the open fight against gender inequality, the proportion of women on boards of directors is less than 30%, while Belarusian women, on a par with European women, top the list, leaving far behind Russia (less than 10%), the United States (less than 20%) and the whole world (less than 20%). Remarkably, there are the most women chairmen of boards of directors in Russia (about 9%), Belarusian women, like European women, rank second (about 7%), and still outrank the United States in percentage terms (just over 4%) and world (slightly more than 5%).

The percentage distribution by industry is also worth noting: Belarusian women are most often members of the board of directors in manufacturing (about 30%), trade and the financial sector (about 27 and 25%, respectively).

For comparison, in Europe, women are more likely to be represented in the boards of directors in trade (about 28%) and the financial sector (26%), according to available data, internationally, in trade and finance, the share of women in boards of directors does not even reach 20%. In the United States, there are approximately the same number of women in leadership positions in manufacturing and finance (about 17%), American women are the most successful in sales – about 22% of women hold leadership positions in this area.

Deloitte experts also studied the distribution of women by committees: it turned out that among the heads of the strategy / corporate governance committee in Belarus, 50% are women. Slightly less – 48% – in the management of the audit committee, 43% – in the committee for appointments and remuneration, and 30% – among the chairmen of the risk committee. And these are the highest rates compared to other countries.

“Today we see that women better understand their value for business, actively use the opportunities and are not afraid to take on the responsibility that comes with a managerial position”, commented Olga Stepaneyeva, Director of Deloitte in Belarus. “It is more difficult for a woman to make a choice to be a leader, however, as soon as the choice is made, a woman will find her way to the top, and I am glad that my compatriots are becoming braver in their decisions and, undoubtedly, improving the business environment in the country”. The Women in the Boardroom study was conducted in Belarus in March 2021 based on open sources; data for other countries and regions were used for comparison from Deloitte Global’s sixth edition of Women in the Boardroom.