ABCUL Survey Results Show Majority Female Leaders in Sector

Wednesday 24 January 2024

During summer 2021, ABCUL collected data on the gender and age make-up of the British credit union’s memberships, CEOs and boards of directors. The survey received responses from 44 credit unions, representing over 260,000 members collectively.

40 of the responding credit unions gave the gender of their CEO or equivalent (most senior staff member/volunteer), of which 60% were female and 40% male. The female majority is significantly ahead of the rest of the financial services sector for female representation at the most senior job level.

“Working in the credit union industry has allowed me to meet many fantastic people, and we’re approaching an exciting time as a collective, in no small part down to the work of our women,” says ABCUL President and CEO of Enterprise Credit Union. “If you look at some of the brilliant credit unions up and down the country, you’ll see female leaders throughout, providing the stewardship and innovation that is so crucial to our collective success.”

Commenting on the results, Chair of the GB’s Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN), Beth Welsh said: “It is inspiring to see credit unions leading the way with gender parity; there are so many barriers to career advancement which shouldn’t exist and GWLN aims to empower and inspire women of today and tomorrow to continue to break those barriers and thrive within the credit union sector.”

ABCUL continues to work to improve the representation of women at senior levels through its ABCUL Inclusivity Group that is committed to ensure that a diverse range of appropriately skilled candidates is available each year for election to the ABCUL Board.