Leadership holds the power to shape industries, drive innovation, and steer the direction and ethos of organisations.
In the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, where decisions are inherently tied to the well-being and health of global populations, leadership takes on an even more vital role. Yet, there is an alarming under-representation of women in leadership—less than 30 percent—in the pharmaceutical industry. This harsh statistic is more than a barrier to gender equality. It also limits the industry’s ability to make inclusive decisions.
Despite women holding the larger share of entry-level roles, their representation declines rapidly at senior levels, creating a concerning imbalance. As an example, over half of new entrants into the global pharmaceutical industry were women in 2022. Despite this, nearly three-quarters of C-suite members are still men, highlighting the glass ceiling between female employees and the highest levels of leadership.
According to McKinsey, there are three main problems contributing to the decline in female representation as we move up the corporate ladder: structural challenges, institutional barriers, and the impact of an unsupportive daily work environment.
Structural challenges include biased hiring and constrained advancement practices. Institutional barriers allow underlying biases to persist unchecked. Finally, the daily work environment often fails to promote an inclusive and supportive experience for all employees. This can marginalise and discourage women from pursuing leadership positions, which they may see as unattainable or unsustainable. Companies need to acknowledge and understand the effects of these issues to successfully overcome gender disparity at leadership levels.
Addressing this gender gap is not just about fairness. It’s about leveraging the full potential of the industry’s talent pool to drive innovation. This requires a concerted effort from industry leaders, policymakers, and organisational leadership teams to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies that support and promote women at all career stages, ensuring that the ladder to leadership remains accessible for all.
At AbbVie, we call this Equity, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion or EEDI. As vice president, I’ve witnessed first-hand how a leadership team that reflects the diversity of the population is better equipped to understand and address the distinct needs and experiences of different genders, cultures, backgrounds, and generations.
Developing and bringing innovative, life-changing medicines and solutions to patients requires diversity of thought. That only comes from a diverse workforce. Our patients also come from a diverse set of experiences and backgrounds, and we want to reflect our patient populations around the world to develop products and treatments that meet the needs of a broad and diversified patient population.
This is why bringing diverse perspectives into the decision-making process is a priority at AbbVie. Having diversity in place with more women in leadership has been shown to improve patient outcomes by fostering more inclusive research and development initiatives, policies, practices, tailored treatments, and innovative solutions that address the unique challenges faced by the different demographic groups.
For instance, women’s healthcare remains alarmingly inadequate, significantly lagging behind advances in technology and medicine. Despite living longer, women suffer from poor health 25 percent more often than men. In such situations, female leaders in the pharmaceutical industry can lead the way in prioritising and driving advancements in women’s healthcare.
The bottom line is that women in leadership are not just a nice-to-have but a must-have for ensuring equitable healthcare and building future-proof businesses.
At AbbVie, we believe gender diversity is a shared responsibility and ensure that our EEDI principles are at the core of how we conduct our business.
In Asia, my vision is to build an excellent team that will create and surpass our legacy. To ensure gender inclusion, we promote an environment where women’s leadership is actively supported. Through active participation in and sponsorship of Ladies United in Asia (LUNA), the Asian chapter of AbbVie’s Women Leaders in Action (WLA) Employee Resource Group, we are building a community of support among women, inspiring the next generation of female leaders to find their voices. This includes hosting workshops to raise managers’ awareness of biases and participating in inclusive leadership programmes to effectively manage diversity.
In Asia, we also organise programmes where women leaders share career stories, and celebrate achievements. Additionally, LUNA provides a platform for employees to connect, build community, and ensure every voice is heard and valued.
Through LUNA, we also empower women employees to reach their full potential by highlighting their achievements in newsletters and ensuring ongoing support and recognition for women leaders. LUNA programmes like the WLA panel discussion—where AbbVie’s intercontinental leaders gather to support women’s career development, women employee mentorship events, and cross-team leadership workshops—aim to create an equitable and empowering environment for all women at AbbVie Asia.
Our initiatives have led to tangible results, including increased diversity in leadership and improved workplace culture. We have been recognised internationally, including being named one of Fair360’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity, a Seramount 100 Best Companies, and a Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.
I am proud to say that globally, women make up 56 percent of our workforce. As of 2023, 50 percent are directors or higher. In Asia, women hold more than 60 percent of management roles and constitute 51 percent of the workforce as of this year.
The pharmaceutical industry is a complex puzzle. Each piece contributes to the overall picture. Currently, there is a significant gap in representation. However, without all the pieces, it’s hard to see the full image. This is why we need more women in top roles. It’s not about filling a quota. They bring much-needed perspectives and value to the table.
As a woman leader, I feel compelled to empower others to take on positions of influence and authority so that we can make an impact—not just within our industry, but across the healthcare landscape at large. It’s a conscious, deliberate, and focused endeavour to identify and dismantle the structural and institutional barriers to gender-diverse leadership teams.
However, I must stress that this is a shared responsibility, not just for women, but for all leaders. The onus cannot be placed entirely on women. To create a more inclusive and equitable future, we must all drive systemic change.
Ultimately, the imperative for more women leaders goes beyond representation; it has the potential to drive innovative thinking, spur economic growth, and positively affect the health and well-being of millions around the world. Together, we can complete the puzzle and lead the way to a more inclusive and effective workplace
