A report on gender diversity has been published: women hold 7% of CEO positions in Kazakhstan

In 2025, a new report on gender diversity in the boards of directors and management of Kazakhstan's largest companies was published. The study, initiated by Arai Serikzhanova, an expert in ESG and corporate governance, analyzes changes that have occurred over the past five years. The first part of the report examines progress in women's representation in companies since the first KPMG review in 2020, which analyzed 66 companies. The new version of the report covers 100 of the country's largest companies, representing various industries.

The document also draws on the experience of other countries, such as Denmark and France, where mandatory quotas for women on boards of directors significantly improved gender diversity. Kazakhstan, in turn, continues to rely solely on voluntary measures, which slows the process.

As of 2025, only 42 women work on the boards of directors of Kazakhstan's largest companies. In 55% of companies, there are no women on the boards at all, in 31% there is only one woman, in 9% there are two, and only in 2% there are four women. Women hold only 3% of board chair positions and 7% of CEO roles. Despite a slight increase, the overall number of women in leadership positions in the country remains low.

The report also provides recommendations for attracting women to boards of directors and leadership positions, including a strategic approach to gender diversity, improving fairness in hiring, changing corporate culture, and engaging men in these processes. The use of digital tools such as WE-TEST will help companies assess their efforts and effectively move toward gender equality.

You can read the full report here.