Women in Swiss Management Roles Rise to 28.4%, Regional Disparities Persist

Switzerland has made steady progress in increasing female representation in management positions, with women now holding 28.4% of all management positions registered in the commercial register as of February 2025. This represents a 2.9 percentage point increase over the past decade, highlighting the gradual but consistent advancement of gender diversity in Swiss corporate leadership.

Significant regional variations exist in female management representation across Switzerland. The German-speaking cantons, particularly Aargau and Basel-Country, lead with nearly one-third of management positions held by women. Zurich and Glarus follow closely at 29.8%. In contrast, French-speaking regions and Ticino show lower representation, with Fribourg recording the lowest at 25.5%. These disparities reflect deeper cultural and economic differences between Switzerland's linguistic regions.

The veterinary sector leads in female leadership with 55% representation, followed by social services and personal services approaching 50%. However, traditional male-dominated sectors show significantly lower figures, with civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and construction recording 15% or less female management representation. Retail presents an interesting paradox, with only 35% female managers despite women comprising two-thirds of the workforce.

Women's representation on boards of directors has reached 24.7%, showing a 2.8 percentage point increase during the study period. Basel-City leads with 26.5% female board members, followed by Aargau (26%) and Zurich (25.9%). Notably, the financial hub of Zug shows the lowest representation at 19.5%. This trend indicates progress in corporate governance diversity, albeit at a slower pace than executive management roles.

While the trend shows consistent improvement in female representation across both management and board positions, the pace of change suggests continued effort is needed to achieve gender parity. The success of certain cantons and sectors could provide valuable insights for accelerating progress across all regions and industries. The varying rates of progress between German and French-speaking regions also highlight the need for targeted initiatives to address regional disparities.