Women hold 9.1% of the board chair roles at global companies, according to new research, which also finds that only 6.5% of chief executive jobs are occupied by women.

The survey, by data providers MSCI, paints a picture of women filling more roles in the boardroom, but still struggling to access the top jobs. Indeed, women now hold a quarter (25.8%) of board seats globally, up one percentage point on last year.

Of the companies surveyed in both developed and emerging markets, 41.2% now have at least 30% of board seats held by women, while the number of all-male boards continues to shrink.

However, only 14.5% of companies in emerging markets have at least 30% female boards, with only 6% having 40% women.

Many jurisdictions now mandate a 40% threshold for women on boards, particularly in the EU, where many companies have made big changes. However, MSCI is pessimistic about how long it will take most to reach this higher level of representation. “At the current growth rate,” says the MSCI report, “we expect to reach the 40% threshold by 2033. Reaching a fully equal representation (50% threshold) appears to be further away; we currently project a 2040 date.”

Do mandatory quotas work?

This month, academic researchers released a new report showing that mandatory diversity quotas appear to work. After examining French companies, the team concluded that shareholder voting habits when it comes to director appointments indicate that underrepresentation was not due to “under supply” of female candidates, but to problems with the ways in which companies looked for candidates and the attitudes prevalent about the experience and qualifications of women.

The report says: “Our analysis does not support boards being optimally configured pre-quota. Instead, we find a post-quota increase in shareholder support for female candidates. This suggests the existence of significant pre-quota frictions, which contributed to the underrepresentation of women on corporate boards.”

Research on the relationship between gender diversity and boards does not always run smoothly. In November last year, the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, published a report saying investing in women “lifts” financial performance.

The report was immediately savaged by academics, including Alex Edmans, a professor at London Business School whose own blog claimed the study made “fundamental errors”.

There is a growing view that attempting to prove a link between performance and diversity is either too difficult or unnecessary. Alison Taylor, a professor at NYU Stern Business School, wrote: “Even more important, how did we start acting as if proving the business case is the only thing that matters? What about inclusion, dignity and respect? Not everything can be quantified. And just because something can’t be, doesn’t automatically render it irrelevant.”

Whatever the relationship between gender and company performance, the MSCI survey suggests that, around the world, companies are increasingly appointing women to boards. The issue now is senior leadership and the slowing rate of appointments. That is likely a talent pipeline issue and companies will need to work hard to address it.