The backlash against DEI is threatening women’s path to leadership
A new report has found that 83 per cent of young women want to be leaders (Alamy)
4 min read
Despite record numbers of young women aspiring to lead, rising bias and an anti-DEI backlash risk shutting them out of UK workplaces and boardrooms.
The UK has long claimed to champion meritocracy, but our latest research shows that when it comes to women in leadership, the barriers to progression are apparent, and now, in the current anti-DEI climate, are growing.
At The Pipeline, we campaign for greater gender parity in leadership because it creates a fairer society, flourishing businesses, and a stronger economy. Our 2025 report, Women in Work: High Aspirations but Persistent and Emerging Challenges, from nationwide polling 2,000 women, is both hopeful and troubling.
Women’s aspirations to lead are soaring, with 83 per cent of young women wanting to be leaders. But the barriers to achieving that goal remain stubbornly high. Worse still, in today’s political environment, those barriers risk strengthening.
Despite nearly one in two Britons declaring women’s equality has “gone far enough,” (KCL, 2024) our data proves otherwise. Gender bias continues to hold women back: nearly 70 per cent say gender bias is a barrier to leadership, with the impact most pronounced for women aged 18–24. Racial bias is even more damning: almost eight in 10 Black women and more than eight in 10 Asian women say they meet barriers due to their race. A 22-year-old Black woman who completed our survey said, “[m]y biggest career challenge is racial discrimination.”
And yet, in the halls of politics and boardrooms, the very policies designed to address these inequities – DEI initiatives – have continuously been under attack.
Retreating from equity efforts means cementing bias, closing doors, and leaving talent on the sidelines. Already, one in four women report feeling less safe and comfortable at work due to the politicisation of anti-DEI. And, nearly half (43 per cent) of women say they hide part of their identity at work. Progress should not look like this. It is regression disguised as fairness or ‘meritocracy,’ which, put simply, does not exist.
While women’s aspirations remain high, pessimism about barriers to progression is rising among young women
Support structures, skills training, and talent pipelines that should propel women forward are also lacking. Only half of women in junior roles believe they have the support to succeed as leaders. Critically, that reality is not a matter of personal ambition. Young women, in particular, identify lack of sponsors and mentorship as the biggest obstacles. And 91 per cent of Asian women and 75 per cent of white women cite lack of networks as a key challenge to career progression.
And yet the loudest voices in today’s culture wars argue against providing precisely these structures, seeing equality of access as a dangerous form of special treatment.
The risk is clear: while women’s aspirations remain high, pessimism about barriers to progression is rising among young women. And if leaders, organisations, and government do not tackle these barriers and continue to bend to anti-DEI pressures, the next generation of women will face not fewer obstacles, but more.
We cannot afford to waste this future talent because diversity in leadership and workplaces results in huge business and economic benefit. Yet, nine in ten women say they need leadership development training, and one in four are worried about being displaced by AI.
These are solvable problems if we all work together on the progress already made. Government can act by expanding its affordable childcare to encompass eldercare, continue investing in women’s health hubs, and funding AI training specifically for young women. Companies can act by committing to transparent reporting, building inclusive pipelines, and creating sponsorship programmes for under-represented groups. Individuals also have a part to play, by pursuing networks, mentors, and the skills that will help them thrive.
Our report is not just a warning; it presents a chance for opportunity and positive change for all. We either allow the anti-DEI climate to push out our future talent, risking the potential prosperity of UK business and economic growth, or we push forward, insisting that progress is not optional, but essential.
Professor Geeta Nargund is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth, Board Chair and Programme Lead at The Pipeline, and Founder of CREATE Fertility and Social Impact Enterprises
