If we are to judge by the research conducted by the Cotrugli Business School published in February this year, Croatia has little to boast about with only 16.5 percent of women in the management of the 15 largest Croatian companies. In fact, it should be at least a little ashamed considering that this percentage placed it at the bottom of the list of eight countries in Southeast Europe included in the research (https://lidermedia.hr/poslovna-scena/hrvatska/istrazivanje-zene-i-dalje-nedovoljno-zastupljene-u-upravama-vodecih-hrvatskih-kompanija-141116).
Fortunately, somewhat better news is coming from the west where the number of female CEOs in companies on the Fortune 500 list has risen to 44 (a record number!) which means that 8.8 percent of women lead the most successful companies in the world. A greater number of women have taken on leadership positions in the thousand largest American public companies. Specifically, the share grew from 23.8 to 28.2 percent from 2019 to 2021.
However, despite this (slow) growth, there is still a significant gender gap, meaning women are paid less than men for equal positions and are more likely to experience (and report) discrimination and harassment. To discover which companies are truly striving to change their approach to women and build a supportive and inclusive work environment, the platform Comparably has compiled a list of ‘Best CEOs for Women’.
Radical honesty, but also compassion
Since the platform deals with company reviews, they analyzed data, specifically feedback from female employees from as many as 70 thousand companies collected from June last year to June this year. The list they compiled is based on reviews of the effectiveness of the CEO and workplace culture, and it includes companies that gathered a minimum of 75 reviews.
