Executive Roles Still Elude Women in Kenya
McKinsey & Company has released its latest Women in the Workplace report, extending its landmark research series to Kenya, Nigeria, and India. Launched at the Africa CEO Forum 2025 today — the continent’s largest private sector convening — the report presents new evidence on the progress and persistent challenges facing women in formal workforces across Kenya.
The report surveyed 324 organisations across the three countries employing roughly 1.4 million people, and reveals a critical finding: while Kenya achieves near parity at the entry level, representation sharply declines at successive stages of leadership. Despite a strong start, with women holding 40% of entry-level roles in Kenya’s private sector and 46% in the public sector, representation declines sharply at each leadership level culminating in only 27% of C-suite roles being held by women.
“Kenya demonstrates strong gender representation at entry level, but that early progress is not translating into equitable leadership outcomes,” said Mayowa Kuyoro, Partner at McKinsey & Company and co-author of the report. “This is not simply a matter of pipeline strength — it is a structural challenge tied to advancement and retention. Addressing these barriers is essential if organisations are to fully harness the leadership potential of Kenya’s female workforce.”
“The data is clear: while Kenyan women are well-represented at entry levels, structural challenges in advancement, promotion, and retention are preventing that early momentum from translating into leadership equity,” said Kartik Jayaram, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and co-author of the report. “Solving this requires more than good intentions — it calls for institutional commitment, rigorous tracking, and targeted interventions to build pathways to the top.”
Women’s representation falls from 40% at the entry-level to 34% at the managerial level, and just 28% at the C-suite – a “double dip” decline.
Women maintain steady representation at both entry and management levels (46%), but leadership representation falters to a mere 27% at the C-suite.
The findings paint a picture of strong representation at entry levels for Kenya followed by systemic barriers later on —particularly at the pivotal manager-to-senior executive transition. While Kenya’s strong entry-level representation is encouraging; momentum must be reinforced by structural supports to translate to early parity into senior leadership representation.
