Women in supply chain leadership: Bridging the representation gap

Women represent a significant proportion of the global supply chain workforce, yet their presence declines sharply at senior leadership levels, highlighting a persistent and widening representation gap. This paper examines the structural, cultural, and organisational factors that sustain this imbalance, drawing on industry data, practitioner insight, and research to map the disparity across career stages. It identifies critical barriers including mid-career attrition linked to the ‘motherhood penalty’ and burnout, the lack of sponsorship and access to influential networks, unconscious bias in hiring and promotion, and structural constraints such as inflexible operating models and narrow role definitions. The paper also explores how entrenched workplace cultures and the separation of operational and functional career paths limit progression opportunities for women. Alongside these systemic factors, it considers the role of individual agency and leadership visibility in shaping career outcomes. The analysis highlights that early pipeline representation does not translate into executive diversity without sustained intervention. A practical framework is presented, outlining targeted strategies for organisations to improve representation, including embedding accountability at leadership level, redesigning roles for flexibility, strengthening sponsorship programmes, and removing bias from talent processes. The paper concludes that closing the gender gap is both a strategic and operational imperative for supply chain organisations seeking to strengthen leadership capability. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.