Companies that have more female leaders do better financially, according to a new report which shows that women are still underrepresented at board level

The study of nearly 22,000 firms from 91 countries, including Ireland, shows that almost 60 per cent of companies surveyed have no female board members. This is despite a finding that the presence of women at leadership level contributes to firm performance.

The report, which was undertaken by the Peterson Institute for International Economics in association with EY, reveals that an organisation with 30 per cent female leaders could add up to 6 percentage points to its net margin.

Ireland is ranked 28th out of the top 56 countries studied for the number of women on boards, in the survey, which was released to coincide with International Women’s Day. Of the Irish companies surveyed, 2 per cent had a female chair and 8 per cent a female chief executive.

Norway came top for the most women on boards at 40 per cent, followed by Latvia, Italy, Finland and Bulgaria.

A related survey from PwC indicates that while more women want to further their experience by working overseas, many are restricted in doing so by their employer.

The survey of more than 3,937 people reveals that many organisations assume that women with children don’t want to work abroad, even though more female respondents who are parent are interested in undertaking an international assignment than their male counterparts.

Lastly, a new Accenture survey indicates that having digital skills helps narrow the workplace gender gap.

The study provides empirical proof that women are using digital skills to gain an edge in finding work and advancing their careers. It reeals that while women still lag behind men in digital fluency in all but a handful of countries, improving their digital skills can help to redress the balance.