by Zarina Gonzalez, Contributor

According to the 2026 Grant Thornton Women in Business Report, women take up 44.5% of senior management positions across the Philippines. Though this is a 1.5-percentage point increase from 2025’s 43%, it’s still several percentage points away from gender parity or a 50% split between men and women at the executive level. But behind the numbers, what has it really taken for women to get to where they are now as leaders? 

Survival of the Exceptional Woman: Model Femininity 

“This woman has to be perfect, and if she’s not perfect, why is she here?” 

Throughout history and well into the present, the sole woman leader in the room has likely had to face that sentiment from some of her male peers. And if she hasn’t heard that sentiment spoken out loud or in whispers behind her back, she has internalized it. The socio-psychological pressures of occupying traditionally male-occupied roles for women leaders are not to be underestimated; they are manifold and complex, as well as frustrating. 

When a woman sits at a position of power surrounded by men, she’s usually given an unspoken and invisible directive not to disrupt the status quo. If she does this, men will say, “Who let a woman in here?” Yet, she has to dominate just enough to be taken seriously as a professional leader, but not so much that the men in the office take issue with it. If she crosses the thin line she’s been given to work with and stands her ground as any leader reasonably should in certain situations, they’ll say to each other jokingly, “Watch out for the iron lady!” 

Image of the Girl Boss & Individual Female Success 

In a world of male power, the girl boss is here to take power for herself. On the positive side, this is female empowerment, a woman taking control and claiming visibility as a powerful, influential woman in a man’s world. Her story of individual female success is aspirational. 

Gender difference does not influence how we approach work as an agency. It just happens that I’m currently leading a team of mostly women.

On the negative side, the girl boss is viewed as the girl who has successfully refashioned herself into one of the boys. This isn’t wrong per se, but it can send an uncomfortable message: If you’re a good enough girl, you’re qualified for membership in the boys’ club. 

The All-Women Executive Team & Collective Female Success 

Instead of a woman conforming to a male-dominated space by proving that she’s the most talented woman they can afford to place in their largely male team, there are women who succeed as a team in Philippine businesses. As Diana Lesaca, who leads an all-women executive team as CEO and President at a Makati public relations agency, describes, “Gender difference does not influence how we approach work as an agency. It just happens that I’m currently leading a team of mostly women.” 

In such woman-majority spaces, the pressure to conform to male ideals of leadership lessens, giving more room for everyone to define, develop and practice values of leadership which feel authentic to them. 

Stories of all-women executive teams convey that success for a woman in business isn’t some far-off dream that’s limited to just the exceptional woman, but is achievable for all women. You don’t have to be superwoman to lead, and there are enough seats at the table for women of different backgrounds and with different priorities. In 2026 and hopefully beyond, leadership in Philippine businesses is for all those who can and choose to lead, regardless of gender identity.