What Women Want

Despite decades of progress, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions across most sectors and regions. Persistent barriers, such as limited access to senior networks, work-life imbalance and a lack of flexible career pathways, continue to slow women’s career progression. Against this background, executive and business education has the potential to unlock opportunities, build confidence and accelerate women’s professional advancement.

The What Women Want 2025 study explores the experiences and perspectives of women and employers and was created with support from: Bentley University, Cambridge Judge Business School, EDHEC, ESADE, IE Business School, IMD, Imperial College, London Business School, Michigan Ross, Monash Business School, Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin and UNSW Business School/AGSM.

The research draws on two global surveys conducted in May 2025: one with over 5,000 women aged 25–55 from 26 countries and the other by more than 500 employers from 28 countries.  In addition, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with women, who were at different career stages, and 10 employers.

Download the free executive summary here to read about the key findings and what business schools can do to engage more women in their programmes.  A detailed report can be purchased as well on the right hand side, either by purchasing with a credit card through PayPal or by completing a short form and receiving an invoice.  The full report does not download automatically but will be sent by email on receipt from PayPal or the order form.