The report acknowledges the gender gap among corporates globally and has observed a significant improvement since 2008

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One out of every four leaders globally in the corporate world is a woman, according to the latest LinkedIn report. India has been a significant contributor to the improved gender diversity as women leadership hiring jumped 25 per cent between 2008 and 2016.

The latest report released by LinkedIn titled ‘Moving the Needle for Women Leaders’ takes a look at how organisations across Asia Pacific can inform and impact diversity and inclusion for women. The report acknowledges the gender gap among corporates globally and has observed a significant improvement since 2008.

India has shown the biggest percentage increase in female leadership hiring with a 25 per cent change during 2008-2016.

The United States and Canada have the highest percentage of women in leadership, with one third holding roles at the director-level, while Spain scores the lowest when it comes to female leadership hiring as since 2008 as it inched up by just 3 per cent.

CHRO (Chief Human Resource Officer) is the most gender neutral executive role, increasing its female hiring by 82 per cent during 2008-2016. CTO (Chief Technology Officer) follows closely behind with a 60 per cent increase.

The only role to show a decline in female hires is Chief Information Officers, which has seen a dip of 7 per cent in this time frame.

Sales roles have the worst leadership gap at 11 per cent, with 38 per cent of women being hired into the workforce, but only 27 per cent reaching leadership roles. At the other end of the scale is HR with the best representation of women at 66 per cent, and 61 per cent of them reaching leadership roles - a gap of just 5 percent.

The best time frame for women taking on a leadership role is somewhere between 10 and 15 years of being in the workforce, while men have a longer window to strive for leadership roles, after 20 or even 30 years.