The Peter Problem: Exploring why there are more male CEOs called Peter than there are female CEOs in the UK 

By Jemima Vanhegan 

Having a female Chief Executive Officer (CEO) leading some of the top UK companies should not be a ground-breaking achievement, yet today, it is. In 2020, there were more male CEOs called Peter than female CEOs in the UK. Underrepresentation of women at this level is a problem for organisations but, perhaps more importantly, it is also detrimental for society and leadership as a whole. Similar levels of underrepresentation are not seen in other spheres of public leadership. Why then, is the gender divide so drastic amongst CEOs? 

When carrying out some initial reading around the topic, it became apparent that there was a pressing need to understand the reasons for the underrepresentation of female CEOs as academia had yet to explore this sufficiently. Where previous studies had been conducted, they were often not UK based, were outdated, or had never spoken with the female CEOs themselves. Having women in some of the top roles is a win-win situation; other women have role models, so women in the pipeline increase, and society benefits from a broader outlook. Why then have we, as a society, neglected this topic for so long? Why have we failed to address such a significant problem?  

Driven by a desire to understand why so few women are seen at the top level of organisations and to appreciate the problem from the experiences of women themselves, I carried out a qualitative study, using interviews, with the intention of discovering whether systematic problems existed which prohibited the advancement of women to CEO level. Initially, I hoped to interview all of the female FTSE 100 CEOs; perhaps naively, I thought that this would be an achievable goal. Whilst all the women I spoke to were CEOs of well-renowned UK companies, only 1 was from the FTSE 100. I certainly overestimated the accessibility of these high-profile women.  

My research was guided by three prevailing research questions which I developed as I believed that they targeted three main problem areas. The questions were: to what extent does education received impact the acquisition of CEO status for women; to what extent does an understanding of leadership and the way a woman leads contribute to their underrepresentation; and finally, what are the main barriers which existing female CEOs faced in their career progression and how does this explain their underrepresentation.  

Traditionally, effective leadership styles have been seen to be developed for, and by, men. Those such as The Great Man Theory, were established on the premise that historical leaders, such as Napoleon, have provided society with the best example of a successful leader. Consequently, society has drawn patriarchal conclusions about what we think a great leader should be like, and, unfortunately, look like. However, since the establishment of theories like this one, society has changed and evolved. Why then, have we not let the traits and characteristics of leaders evolve with it?   

The findings from my research revealed that all the women supported the need for change, stating that there was a fundamental need to redefine leadership so that it aligned more with modern society. In addition to modernising the perception of leadership, they also remarked upon the need to eliminate the gender factor from it. A good leader is a good leader, regardless of sex.  

Whilst each of the women gave many responses to why they believed underrepresentation reigned, one of the most common answers given by them were centred around sexism. The fact that even today this is still deemed to be a predominating issue is shocking. Sexism was experienced by these women in two different forms. Firstly, a couple of the participants commented that they had been discriminated against because of their appearance, i.e. her hair was blonde so she would not be taken seriously or she should wear glasses to make her look more intelligent. The detrimental impact which a woman’s appearance could have on her career trajectory (previously coined as the ‘beauty is beastly effect') was identified in prior studies in 1985. That 37 years later such a barrier is still pervading, implies the significant shakeup which is still required at executive level. Secondly, the participants argued that the continued existence of male networks limited their opportunities. For example, almost half of the respondents stated that they had been left out because of old boys clubs or that their career advancement was limited because they could not participate in boys days out to the golf course. The extent of the issue is best highlighted by one of the women who began golf lessons so as to ensure she could not be discriminated against. Why as a society, are we still allowing factors such as these to prevail and to restrict talent? Society should not need women to join a boy’s club in order to succeed.   

Fundamentally, it became apparent that the lack of women at the top has no justified reasoning.  

Whilst my study addressed, and answered the proposed research questions, it also produced other avenues for exploration. Looking to the future, given the heavy impact which having children has, and will continue to have, on women, it would be beneficial to understand the moderating effect which having children has on the career progression of women. By understanding this impact, we, as a society, can hopefully implement means to limit this factor. Another key finding from the investigation was the emphasis placed upon the outdated nature of the pathways to CEO and the structure and expectations of it. It has become apparent, more recently, due to the increased prevalence of social media, the expectations and routes for the CEO position are evolving, but companies are still sticking to the more traditional routes that are arguably disadvantageous to a large majority in society. Therefore, a need exists to understand to what extent the pathway to CEO, and the role itself, needs to shift and be updated to match the times.   

Excluding women from the CEO role is detrimental to both society and company performance. This issue must be addressed to ensure that society and leadership is most efficient. When a female CEO is just a CEO, we know that significant progress has been made in this sphere.  

To find out more about her research, Jemima can be contacted via LinkedIn.

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