Kenyan women entering the workforce at the same time as their male counterparts are unlikely to make it to the senior management and leadership roles, a new study has shown.
Despite near gender parity at entry-level positions, Kenyan women are significantly underrepresented in senior leadership roles, according to the McKinsey & Company report.
The findings—part of McKinsey’s landmark Women in the Workplace research series— show that in Kenya’s private sector, women occupy 40 per cent of entry-level roles but only 28 per cent of C-suite positions.
The public sector performs similarly: while women hold 46 per cent of both entry and management roles, their representation drops to just 27 per cent at the top.
The decline marks a troubling trend—described in the report as a “double dip”—where women’s representation falters sharply at successive leadership levels.
“Kenya demonstrates strong gender representation at entry level, but that early progress is not translating into equitable leadership outcomes. This is not simply a matter of pipeline strength—it is a structural challenge tied to advancement and retention,” said Partner at McKinsey & Company and co-author of the report Mayowa Kuyoro.
However, analysis shows that healthcare and legal sectors in Kenya surpass the national average for women’s representation at all levels.
In the legal sector, women start with strong representation, holding 59 out of every 100 entry level roles. This is driven by the higher number of women in legal education compared to the male counterparts.
They often outnumber their male counterparts as they advance, with their representation ranging from 48 to 65 out of every 100 roles at manager to C-suite levels.
In healthcare, women start with a robust presence, holding 55 out of every 100 entry-level roles. This strong representation is maintained up to the senior vice president level.
“Although representation at the C-suite level drops to 39 out of every 100 roles, this figure remains well above the national average. Interviewed senior leaders suggested various reasons for the drop in women’s representation at the most senior levels. One key factor cited was the international nature of many top roles, often requiring relocation, which many women are unable or unwilling to do,” the findings read.
According to the report, senior-level women in Kenya are 1.4 times more likely than their male peers to leave roles at the vice president, senior manager, or director level.
“As women in the private sector advance into management, they encounter a broken rung, with representation declining to just 34 percent. The women interviewed identified several factors that they believe affect their own advancement and that of other women.”
“These factors include sociocultural challenges and the dynamics of personal life and caregiving, such as starting a family while navigating career advancement. These factors may contribute to the decline in representation at higher levels,” says the report.
This attrition, coupled with limited advancement opportunities, reveals systemic barriers that continue to constrain women’s career progression despite strong early momentum.
While 77 per cent of Kenyan organizations surveyed claim gender diversity is a CEO-level priority, only 66 per cent track metrics such as hiring and promotion by gender—and just 15 per cent of boards hold leadership accountable for gender equity.
“Solving this requires more than good intentions—it calls for institutional commitment, rigorous tracking, and targeted interventions to build pathways to the top,” said Senior Partner at McKinsey Kartik Jayaram.
The survey found out that Kenyan companies are falling short in transforming gender diversity commitments into meaningful change.
Unveiled at the Africa CEO Forum 2025, the survey finds that while many organizations across Kenya, Nigeria, and India have introduced gender-inclusive policies, only a few are seeing real results.
“However, the presence of policies alone is not enough. The report notes that even lower-performing companies often have similar policies, underscoring the importance of effective implementation over simple adoption,” reads the report.
The difference, McKinsey says, lies in how these policies are executed—not just whether they exist.
“Across the three countries, companies with stronger outcomes for women were more likely to have both foundational and advanced, or “differentiator,” policies in place. Baseline policies—such as employee safety, security, and bias mitigation—are widely adopted and correlated with better gender representation,” the report reads.
