Accelerating Action: How #procurement leaders can drive gender equality

Insights from Zero9 's International Women’s Day Panel

Procurement is a key business function that shapes global supply chains, drives cost efficiencies, and influences corporate sustainability. But its leadership remains overwhelmingly male.

Women enter the field in strong numbers, often outpacing men at entry-level and middle-management. And yet, as they progress through the ranks, their representation drops dramatically. Why? And more importantly, what can we do about it?

If businesses are serious about gender equality and equity, they need bold, measurable action. Last week, Zero9 assembled a powerhouse of female procurement leaders to discuss the realities of gender disparity in procurement, share personal experiences, and explore solutions for accelerating change ahead of this year’s International Women’s Day. This white paper explores our findings.

The gender gap in procurement: A reality check

It exists.

Women are entering procurement in significant numbers. In fact, at entry-level, gender parity is often achieved. But, as careers progress, the balance shifts in favour of men, particularly at CPO level.

“At the lower levels, I see a solid balance – sometimes even more women applying than men,” explained Procurement Director at L’Oréal Gemma Bell. “But when you reach the very top (CPOs and board-level leadership) the numbers drop significantly. That’s where we still have a long way to go.”

This issue is exacerbated by where procurement sits within an organisation, as highlighted by Rebecca Lonsdale, former CPO at Castrol. Procurement leaders often report into finance, supply chain, or operations, and these functions remain heavily male-dominated at senior levels: “The function itself needs greater recognition at board level if we want more women to reach CPO roles”. And if procurement isn’t valued at board level, how can we expect female procurement leaders to break through?

Barriers to leadership

In the panel discussion, four key challenges emerged as barriers to women in procurement leadership: implicit bias in hiring and promotion, the impact of life-stage transitions, imposter syndrome, and underrepresentation. Tackling these issues is essential to accelerating action.

Let’s explore in more detail:

1. The leadership cliff: Where do women go?

Women aren’t just underrepresented at procurement leadership level – they disappear from the pipeline entirely as they progress in their careers.

"I’m actually struggling to get male representation in my junior procurement roles, yet at senior levels, the landscape is still male-dominated," observed Gemma Bell. "It raises an important question, are we doing enough to support women beyond mid-management? Are we giving them the right development, exposure, and career paths to make it to the top?"

This imbalance isn’t unique to one organisation or sector, it’s an industry-wide trend. At entry-level and mid-management, gender representation is becoming more balanced. But by the time women reach leadership level, the numbers simply fall off a cliff.

"Often at the very top, there are no women at the table,” explained Christine Tournade, Senior Procurement Director at Monster Energy. "And the men there are very comfortable in their seats, which means there’s no rotation. As a result, there is far more turnover at the lower levels as talented women feel there’s nowhere to go".

So, what happens between middle-management and executive roles? The answer isn’t a lack of ambition. Instead, it’s a combination of systemic bias, limited leadership development opportunities, and a lack of structured sponsorship for women at key career moments. Without targeted efforts to retain, mentor, and elevate female talent, many promising leaders stall before they ever reach CPO level.

2. Implicit bias in hiring and promotion

Bias plays a huge role in who gets promoted. Even when women perform at the same level as their male counterparts, they are often viewed differently. As Business Advisor and former CPO Rachael Legg explained, women are assessed on proven experience, while men are assessed on potential:

“I had two candidates for a senior role – one man, one woman. Both were equally qualified. The man was described as ‘ready for a stretch assignment,’ while the woman was referred to as ‘needing another go around' at her current level to prove her capability. The bias was unconscious, but it was there.”

3. Life stage barriers

Beyond bias, workplaces often fail to recognise life-stage challenges that disproportionately affect women. Menstruation, miscarriage, maternity, and menopause – otherwise known as The 4 Ms as highlighted by Rachael Legg – all impact career progression, but few companies have the policies or support structures in place to ensure women thrive at every life stage.

“There are life stages where women may step back, but that doesn’t mean they should step out,” explained Business Advisor and former CPO Janet Standing. “Too often, companies fail to provide the right kind of support when women reach critical career moments. Instead of recognising the need for flexibility, they apply the same structures and expectations used for male colleagues – many of whom have not faced the same life-stage pressures. If organisations truly want to retain female leaders, they must rethink how they support progression. This isn’t about lowering standards; it’s about adapting so we don’t lose exceptional talent along the way.”

4. The confidence gap

Whether putting themselves forward for promotion, positioning themselves as thought leaders at industry events, or negotiating salaries, women often underestimate their ability. Their male counterparts, however, back themselves – even when they meet only part of the criteria. This hesitation isn’t due to a lack of capability, it’s about perception and conditioning as Christine Tournade observed:

"In my team, I’ve been consciously working on building self-confidence. I see it time and time again, women will look at a senior role, see a few gaps in their experience, and hold themselves back. Whereas, their male peers don’t hesitate, they just go for it. That mindset needs to shift.

“We also need to create a female community to amplify each other’s voices and support one another’s progression. When opportunities arise, we should be collaborating, not competing”.

This confidence gap doesn’t just impact career progression, it affects visibility at the top. "Women in procurement are doing incredible work, but they’re not always making their successes known,” noted Sam Donaldson, former CPO of Standard Life Aberdeen. “Brilliant women are delivering huge impact, but not putting themselves forward, not talking about their achievements, and not being recognised at the level they deserve. If we want to inspire the next generation, we need to be louder about our contributions”.

"Women have strong voices, but too often, they don’t feel safe using them," added Procurement Consultant Liz Goodchild. "You can’t raise your voice if you don’t feel like you have the choice to do so. If businesses want to retain and promote female leaders, they need to create environments where women feel safe, valued, empowered, and encouraged to step forward”.

Accelerating Action: The solutions

The challenges faced by female procurement leaders are embedded in organisational structures and cultures. Change is possible. And it’s coming.

But it doesn’t happen by waiting. Change is a result of action.

To accelerate progress, procurement leaders need to move beyond awareness and implement sustainable, high-impact solutions. This means rethinking leadership development, creating more inclusive workplaces, dismantling gender bias, and actively addressing the confidence and visibility gap for women.

The following solutions drawn from the experiences and expertise of our panellists outline key steps businesses must take to ensure more women not only enter procurement but advance to leadership. Because equality isn’t just about fixing the pipeline, it’s about ensuring women don’t get stuck along the way.

1. Changing the perspective at the top

One of the most effective ways to challenge bias is through reverse mentoring; that is, pairing senior male executives with junior female employees to gain direct insight into gender-related barriers. As Rachael Legg explained, this approach forces leaders to see the workplace through a different lens:

“Some men don’t see the barriers because they’ve never had to navigate them. Reverse mentoring shifts perspectives. By pairing senior male stakeholders with younger female employees, we gave them first-hand exposure to the challenges women face daily in the workplace. Suddenly, issues they had never considered – like being overlooked in meetings or assumptions about leadership readiness – became visible to them. This awareness is the first step to change”.

2. Fix the sponsorship gap

Mentorship is not enough. Women need sponsors – senior leaders who actively advocate for their career progression, put them forward for leadership opportunities, and ensure they have a seat at the table.

"Too often, companies fail to recognise that talent needs active backing, not just passive mentorship,” explained Janet Standing. “Without real advocacy, too many talented women get overlooked or stagnate in mid-management. No one is championing them at the decision-making table. If we want more women in senior leadership, leaders must make conscious decisions to give them visibility, opportunities, and support—just as they do with their male colleagues".Top of FormBottom of Form

3. Targets, not quotas

Diversity doesn’t happen by chance; it happens by design. But there’s a fine line between setting meaningful targets and enforcing quotas. The key is to make hiring, promotion, and leadership development deliberate and measurable without reducing candidates to box-ticking exercises.

Without structured accountability, progress stalls. Procurement leaders need to treat gender diversity like any other business goal – setting clear targets and tracking results. "What gets measured gets done," said Rebecca Lonsdale. "Without targets, businesses have no benchmarks, nothing to shoot for, no accountability for making progress."

Companies that commit to tracking gender diversity at senior levels, create structured hiring frameworks, and build clear leadership pathways for women will see the fastest, most sustainable progress. This is about creating real opportunities for the best talent to rise, lead, and shape the future of procurement.