'World's largest economies lag in nurturing female leaders'

World's largest economies are lagging in nurturing female leaders while Norway exceeded the 30 per cent mark for women on company boards, says an report.
According to recent data from EY & The Peterson Institute for International Economics, companies in just five countries have at least 30 per cent senior women executives with only Norway exceeding the 30 per cent mark for women on company boards.
"While gender parity in business varies widely across the globe, most countries are still far below the 30 per cent threshold for women CEOs, women on boards and women executives," the report said.
The research showed companies with at least 30 per cent women in leadership can achieve up to a 6 percentage point increase in net margin.

According to EY, there would be beneficial impact on the global economy if more companies invested in developing a robust pipeline of female leadership.
The research focused on data from almost 22,000 publicly traded firms across 91 countries, including India.
The data contained firm-level information on the gender composition of the executive team, corporate board, the size of the board, as well as the gender of the CEO and board chair. The firm's revenue and profitability was also included.