Women made up more than half the workforce in four industries by June 2026, even as their share of senior leadership stalled below 30%, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2026.
The report found women accounted for 59.9% of the workforce in Healthcare and Care Services, 54.2% in Education, 51.7% in Consumer Services, and 50.6% in Government and Public Sector. At the other end, women made up about a quarter of workers in Oil, Gas and Mining at 25.2% and in Infrastructure at 23.6%. Overall workforce participation for women rose from 39.9% in 2015 to 42.0% in 2025 across the covered economies, before edging down to 41.8% by June 2026.
Women’s representation across vice-president, C-suite and board roles rose from 26.7% in 2015 to 29.4% by 2023 and then held flat. WEF data shows women make up 46% of workers at entry level but only 23% in the C-suite, a drop the report attributes to structural barriers rather than a shortage of women in the pipeline.
“A new economy demands a new approach to talent,” said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. She said gender parity is achievable and that governments and employers need to apply the policies that work more quickly.
India ranked 131st with 64.5% of its gender gap closed; parity among legislators, senior officials and managers stood at just 13.1%, and the share of women in the Union cabinet slipped to 5.9% from a 30% peak. A KPMG survey of women’s leadership in corporate India similarly found progress on diversity remaining incremental year on year.
