Barriers to women in leadership

(Image @ Javier Sierra, Unsplash.)

The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and the University of South Wales have published a new report calling for significant barriers to women achieving leadership roles to be removed. ‘From Aspiration to Action: Women’s Leadership Pathways in Wales,’ a study by the University of South Wales and CBI Wales, is based on a survey of 249 female, male and non-binary professionals across different career levels and sectors.

The report says that cultural signals displayed in the workplace and leadership environment, as well as structural obstacles (such as being given greater responsibility without enough support), are the main barriers to leadership. A third key factor in people failing to achieve leadership roles is personal preferences and values, including prioritising work-life balance over career progression.

Launched on 11 November 2025 at the CBI Wales Women in Leadership Network’s AGM in Cardiff, the report outlines the following key findings:

• Workplace culture continues to reward a set of narrow personality traits. Of those surveyed, 86% believe leadership still favours certain personas or groups of people.
• Wellbeing pressures are holding careers back. A total of 83% of respondents worry about burnout and 87% say they are less attracted to leadership because of the impact that career progression can have on their work–life balance.
• A total of 82% of survey responses confirmed that caring responsibilities make it harder to progress into leadership. Around 72% believe that part-time or flexible workers are excluded from such opportunities.
• Only 10% of survey participants say that they can access mentoring schemes. Mentoring is widely recognised by human resources professionals as the strongest lever for building confidence, capability and career progression.

The report calls for the tackling of cultural norms that limit confidence, widening access to flexible development and expanding the use of mentoring to meet the needs of women at different stages in their careers.

Co-authored by Dr Lauren Josie Thomas, HR and leadership lecturer Jayde Howard and Dr. Shehla Khan of the University of South Wales, the report comments that universities, policymakers and professional networks must work together to co-create evidence-based solutions that make leadership pathways inclusive and accessible.

The report’s main recommendations are:

(To read the rest of this news report in the December 2025/January 2026 issue of ISMR, see https://joom.ag/X3Ed/p14 )