Under President Claudia Sheinbaum — Mexico’s first female president — more and more Mexican women are stepping into positions of power in government and business. It’s a trend that predates her administration, and that she arguably has benefited from. But while gender parity laws have sped the entry of women into government roles, the change in the business world has been slower.
In Mexico, the number of women on company boards has been slowly increasing. In large companies, 17.5% of current board members are women, according to a recent report by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO). That’s a far cry from the average in other developed countries. Among Mexico’s peer countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an average of 32.5% of major companies’ board members are women.
Hoy presentamos #MujeresenlasEmpresas2025. Aquí el resumen de los datos. Échenle ojo. La verdad es que México, por más presidenta que tengamos, es uno de los países más cerrados del mundo en ese tema. @imcomx pic.twitter.com/SxxF8VUKBD
— Valeria Moy (@ValeriaMoy) December 2, 2025
In countries like France and New Zealand, female board representation exceeds 47%. Mexico also lags behind other Latin American countries such as Colombia, Chile and Brazil.
The IMCO report found that 19% of boards are composed exclusively of men, while 13% have no women in either board positions or other relevant management roles. Furthermore, only 5.5% of independent directors are women — compared to 28% of men — and just 4% of women serve as board chairs.
Although representation of women in financial and legal management positions has advanced, 64% of companies lack female representation in any of their key leadership roles. According to IMCO, women hold only 3% of CEO positions, 15% of CFO positions and 26% of legal positions.
Progress in achieving gender equality in key positions has been consistent but slow, the report found. At the current rate, Mexico won’t achieve parity on corporate boards until 2043.
SMEs in Jalisco include more women than large companies
The report included an analysis focused on the business sector in the state of Jalisco, which is home to more than 365,000 businesses. It revealed that in small and medium-sized enterprises (which make up the vast majority of Jalisco firms) nearly half of the owners are women. However, disparities are greater in large companies.
Jalisco women tend to lead marketing and human resources departments, while men predominate in operations and technology areas. For every four promotions given to women, five are given to men.
IMCO: Mexico needs more women on corporate boards
IMCO noted that Mexico could benefit from having women in decision-making positions, as it not only strengthens competitiveness but also boosts their productivity and innovation. But to elevate women’s economic participation from the current rate of 46% to the OECD average of 67%, Mexico would need to incorporate 18.6 million women into the labor market.
IMCO anticipates that this change could yield significant benefits, potentially increasing the national GDP by 6.9 trillion pesos by 2035.
Mexico News Daily
