FTSE 100 Firms Are 'Not Looking Wide Enough For Talented Women'

A report is expected to show a drop in women promoted to executive positions

The number of women being promoted to executive positions has dropped over the last six months, a new report is expected to show.

The report, due this week and conducted by the Cranfield School of Management, the Government’s official monitor of women on boards, is also expected to show that the percentage of women appointed by FTSE 100 boards in the past six months has decreased from the previous half-year.

Professor Susan Vinnicombe, co-author of the Cranfield report, says: 'Either headhunters are not looking wide enough for talented women, or chairmen are losing interest in the issue'.

The lack of women in board-level positions has been justified by search consultants, who argue that there aren’t enough suitably qualified women around to fill the positions.

Professor Vinnicombe says that most FTSE 100 firms are not willing to hire women who have board-level experience, because the experience they do have is in a different field.

She says: 'Most search consultants are still singing the tune that there aren't enough suitable women out there. Many chairmen and headhunters are still not valuing independent experience or anyone who comes from outside the mainstream.'

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