Women Now Account for 39% of Colombia’s Top Corporate Positions

Written on 03/07/2026
jhoanbaron
Women’s participation in Colombia’s corporate leadership has now reached 39% of the top positions. Gloria María Miranda Espitia serves as the director of Colombia’s illicit crop substitution program. Her high-level role in the national government reflects the broader trend of increasing female leadership and participation across the country’s public and private sectors. Credit: Presidencia de la República de Colombia / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).

Women held 39% of Colombia’s top corporate positions in 2026 and occupied 38% of board seats across 204 companies surveyed by the National Business Association (Andi).

CESA’s 2025 analysis of 129 listed firms found women held 25.6% of board seats (220 principal positions), up from 23.1% the prior year; all-male boards fell to 18.6%, and 44 listed firms met or exceeded the 30% representation threshold governance researchers identify as the minimum for meaningful influence. Andi reports that 80.4% of surveyed companies now have formal diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, a factor associated with higher female participation.​

A decade of measurable corporate gains for women in Colombia

Colombia began tracking gender equity in listed company boards in 2018, when women held just 15% of seats, or 125 positions across 136 firms, and by 2025 that share had reached 25.6% through a steady annual expansion, with 48 new women joining boards in the year alone and 13 additional principal seats shifting to female occupancy, according to CESA’s Centre for Corporate Governance Studies.

​That seven-year climb from 15% to 25.6% reflects not only voluntary corporate decisions but also the normalization of DEI measurement in Colombia’s formal business sector, since firms with structured programs report two to three percentage points more female participation than peers without them. The 80.4% DEI adoption rate among Andi’s surveyed companies provides a structural foundation for continued female leadership growth.

Public sector data reinforces the female leadership picture beyond private corporations, given that women occupy 48.26% of directorial roles across national public entities, pointing to a structural gap where the state approaches near-parity at senior levels while large listed companies still count roughly one woman for every three men in boardrooms, confirming that voluntary private-sector progress, though real, advances unevenly.

CEO gap and structural barriers persist

Progress on boards has not yet translated into equivalent executive power, since only 17 of 129 listed companies (13.2%) had women CEOs in 2025. Colombia does not impose a mandatory quota for private-company boards; Law 581 (2000) sets a 30% minimum only for public-sector posts, leaving private firms to rely on voluntary initiatives such as the Club 30% and internal DEI programs.

Broader structural challenges also limit progress: Colombia’s informality rate, at roughly 57%, places many workers outside formal DEI frameworks, and 24 listed firms still had no female board member while 15 companies reduced female participation in 2025.

Measured gains on boards show that consistent data collection and peer accountability can shift corporate governance: the rise from 15% to 25.6% in listed-company board seats and the drop in all-male boards demonstrate tangible progress. Yet the persistent CEO gap, the number of firms without women directors, and the economy’s informality mean that progress remains fragile and uneven. Extending measurement, accountability, and targeted initiatives to executive appointments will determine whether boardroom gains translate into broader corporate parity.