Research: For Women on Boards, Prestige Can Be a Bottleneck

A study of nearly 2,000 FTSE-100 board directors reveals that women are on average more likely than men to receive additional board appointments, but that advantage reverses at the most prominent firms where heightened scrutiny and informal demands reduce women's subsequent opportunities. The gap is driven not by qualifications but by uneven expectations, signalling that representation metrics alone are insufficient governance tools. For SEA mid-market boards actively building diverse compositions, this research cautions against equating headcount diversity with genuine inclusion or equal career mobility.