As part of its commitment under the Women in Finance Charter, ICAEW publishes an annual update on its efforts to ensure gender diversity and inclusion within its senior management team.

The latest figures, published on 30 September 2024, show that 58.8% of senior roles were held by women, up from 54.5% the year before. The number far exceeds ICAEW’s target of 40% when it signed up to the charter in 2017.

The update also confirms that ICAEW has reduced its gender pay gap by 10.7% since 2021.

Pamela Harding, Chief People Officer at ICAEW, confirms that the organisation understands the value of diversity to decision-making and innovation. “To deliver against our 10-year strategy, we will continue to remove barriers to attract and retain the best talent.” she says.

“We pursue gender diversity across all areas of our organisation and have progressed significantly against our targets on gender diversity for senior roles since signing the charter.”

Action in 2024

Since it’s last update, ICAEW launched a new training programme for directors, which includes a two-day offsite workshop on inclusive leadership.

The institute has also received a prestigious Bronze TIDE (talent, inclusion, diversity and equality) award from The Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI).

The ENEI programme enables ICAEW to benchmark its diversity and inclusion (D&I) activities, including strategy, recruitment and training, against other organisations. This year, ICAEW’s D&I score increased by 11 percentage points.

Yelena Travis-Powell BEM, ICAEW Head of Global Equality, Equity and Belonging, says: “In today’s workplace, D&I is more than just about values – it’s a business imperative that drives innovation, attracts talent and enhances organisational performance.

“Alongside other WIF signatories, we pledge to be the best in the sector and we will continue to influence and work towards building a more balanced and fair industry.”