• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Social Security's 2032 deadline puts a 22% cut on the table — but Washington has way less room to negotiate than 1983

2

CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea

3

Boomers actually do hold most of the wealth and power. So why do they call it 'whiny' to point that out?

1

Social Security's 2032 deadline puts a 22% cut on the table — but Washington has way less room to negotiate than 1983

2

CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea

3

Boomers actually do hold most of the wealth and power. So why do they call it 'whiny' to point that out?
MPWheforshe

These 10 Male Executives Are Committing to Reach Gender Parity in 5 Years

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 22, 2016, 3:30 AM ET
Key Speakers During COP21 Climate Summit Action Day
Paul Polman, chief executive officer of Unilever Plc, reacts during the action day at the United Nations COP21 climate summit, at Le Bourget, in Paris, France, on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. Frances energy and environment minister Segolene Royal yesterday said the fate of the United Nations global warming talks hinges on the willingness of richer countries to pay poorer ones more for climate-related projects. Photographer: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Christophe Morin—Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Gender equality is men’s problem, too.

That’s the point driven home by the United Nations HeForShe Corporate Parity Report, released Friday at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland. The report looks at the state of gender equality within ten major, male-led companies—including Twitter, Barclays, and Unilever—and challenges them to achieve a lofty goal: Full parity by 2020.

The findings reveal that there’s still a long way to go. While five of the ten companies have already hit gender parity in their overall workforces, not a single one has achieved that balance on their senior leadership teams.

The HeForShe campaign, which is a global initiative to engage men and boys in the fight for gender equality, is partnering with a male executive from each of the ten companies to serve as a public “champion” for the movement.

The 10 men are all top-level leaders at major corporations and include: AccorHotels chair and CEO Sebastien Bazin, Barclays CEO Jes Staley, McKinsey & Company global MD Dominic Barton, PricewaterhouseCoopers chair Dennis Nally, Schneider Electric chair and CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Tupperware Brands chair and CEO Rick Goings, Twitter (TWTR) COO Adam Bain, Unilever (UN) CEO Paul Polman, Vodafone Group (VOD) CEO Vittorio Colao, and Koc Holding chair Mustafa Koc. [Editor’s Note: Mustafa Koc died on Thursday at age 55.]

“These are significant companies with global footprints,” says Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, under-secretary general of the UN and executive director of UN Women. By going public with their commitment to gender parity at Davos—a gathering of some of the most powerful business leaders in the world—the executives hope to convince more of their peers to join in, she says.

Half of the 10 execs already have parity—defined by the UN as between 40% and 60% of each gender— in their overall workforce. Tupperware (TUP) is leading the charge with 59% female workers, but AccorHotels, Barclays (BCS), McKinsey, PwC also have at least 40% female workers.

However, none of the 10 have achieved equality in senior leadership (defined as the top 6% of a company). The closest is Tupperware, with women holding 33% of top roles. Looking at the company boards, the picture isn’t much better: Only AccorHotels and Tupperware have reached parity, with women holding 42% and 40% of board seats respectively.

“It’s sort of what we expect,” says Mlambo-Ngcuka. “What was refreshing is that the CEOs were not defensive. There is willingness to close the gap and an openness to work with other CEOs to solve this problem.” The most promising of the statistics, she noted, was the representation of women in new hires: On average, women made up 39.9% of new hires.

Mlambo-Ngcuka praised the 10 participants for their commitment to transparency, as it’s easy to create an “illusion of progress,” when the same women are in the spotlight over and over. What really matters is the numbers, she says. Each of the companies shared statistics about the gender breakdown of their overall employee population, their senior leadership team, their board, and their new hires.

This initiative is part of UN Women’s larger goal of achieving full gender parity and economic participation by 2030. To put that in perspective, consider the UN’s projection for reaching equality at the current pace of change: 2096.

“The danger of [gender equality] taking 81 years is real, says Mlambo-Ngcuka, though she is optimistic that it can happen sooner. “We can achieve gender parity by 2030, but it’s not something women can do alone.”

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the death of Mustafa Koc, chair of Koc Holding.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

non
MPWNon-Profit
America’s nonprofits and foundations launch huge PR campaign because Washington is treating them like an enemy
By James Pollard and The Associated PressJune 15, 2026
4 hours ago
Stella Li speaking on stage
C-SuiteBYD
BYD wants to become the world’s largest automaker in five years. Stella Li is the executive selling that vision to the world
By Beatrice NolanJune 15, 2026
5 hours ago
Gwynne Shotwell, President & COO, SpaceX
Startups & VentureSpaceX
Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion
By Eva RoytburgJune 15, 2026
12 hours ago
Melinda French Gates’ advice to new IPO millionaires: ‘Give half your money away’
Startups & VentureMost Powerful Women
Melinda French Gates’ advice to new IPO millionaires: ‘Give half your money away’
By Emma HinchliffeJune 13, 2026
2 days ago
t
Arts & EntertainmentTaylor Swift
Taylor Swift is youngest woman to make Songwriters Hall of Fame at 36, but blew out her voice cheering for the Knicks
By Maria Sherman and The Associated PressJune 12, 2026
3 days ago
Bridgit Mendler speaking at Fortune's conference
SuccessCareers
Ex-Disney star Bridgit Mendler reveals she was rejected hundreds of times by Hollywood—but it primed her for her current job as a space start-up CEO
By Preston ForeJune 12, 2026
3 days ago

Most Popular

Social Security's 2032 deadline puts a 22% cut on the table — but Washington has way less room to negotiate than 1983
Personal Finance
Social Security's 2032 deadline puts a 22% cut on the table — but Washington has way less room to negotiate than 1983
By John W. Diamond and The ConversationJune 12, 2026
3 days ago
CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea
Success
CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea
By Preston ForeJune 13, 2026
2 days ago
Boomers actually do hold most of the wealth and power. So why do they call it 'whiny' to point that out?
Economy
Boomers actually do hold most of the wealth and power. So why do they call it 'whiny' to point that out?
By Nick LichtenbergJune 14, 2026
1 day ago
Iran proved it can close the Strait of Hormuz, but the U.S. is advertising very loudly that the world's top superpower can at least punch open a hole
Energy
Iran proved it can close the Strait of Hormuz, but the U.S. is advertising very loudly that the world's top superpower can at least punch open a hole
By Jason MaJune 14, 2026
23 hours ago
SpaceX surge further boosts Saudi billionaire prince’s fortune
Investing
SpaceX surge further boosts Saudi billionaire prince’s fortune
By Adveith Nair and BloombergJune 14, 2026
1 day ago
AI job disruption is here. The problem may be compounded because nearly 75% of people don't apply for unemployment benefits
AI
AI job disruption is here. The problem may be compounded because nearly 75% of people don't apply for unemployment benefits
By Jacqueline MunisJune 14, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.