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Singapore's New Growth Engine: Women in C-Suites

By Arkgroup Leadership & Learning Team

May 26, 2026

By Arkgroup Leadership & Learning Team

Table of Contents

Do you know the CEO of DBS Group, GXS Bank and YouTrip are all women? Tan Su Shan (Group CEO, DBS Group), Pei Si Lai (Group CEO, GXS Bank) and Caecilia Chu (Co-founder & CEO, YouTrip) are all stellar performers with solid track records before assuming their current roles. As of December 2025, women held 25.8% of board positions at the Top 100 SGX-listed firms, surpassing the Council for Board Diversity’s (CBD) target of 25%¹. In the public sector, women continue to lead the charge, occupying 36.1% of board seats across 65 statutory boards¹. Is the rise of women to senior positions today just a trend or is there more to it?

1. What Are the Strengths Women Leaders Bring?

The famous 1992 book ‘Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus’ written by John Gray shred light on how man and woman are different psychologically, emotionally and in the way we communicate, but how does these differences translate to strengths for a woman in the C-suite? Recent 2025–2026 studies suggest it is not about being “better than men,” but about bringing a different, often neglected, set of cognitive tools to the organisation. Here are 3 areas:

The "Transformational" Vision

Women leaders are significantly more likely to adopt transformational leadership styles, which focus on inspiring employees to align with a mission that transcends personal or short-term gain (Malamateniou, 2026). Unlike transactional models that rely on rewards and punishments, transformational leadership emphasises a shared vision and long-term organisational health (Brandazza, 2024).

This leadership style often leads to higher employee engagement and a more positive work environment, which are critical for talent retention during periods of economic uncertainty (Anwar, 2026).

Singapore faces an exceptionally tight labour market, and senior leadership teams that are heavily monolithic often fail to build workplaces that retain high-value local professionals. Women leaders naturally lean toward relational management styles that often result in better employee satisfaction and talent retention.

AI Mediators: Humanising Technology

With the advancement of AI in the recent years, many organisations are starting or have already started integrating generative AI at scale in the workplace. With this new development, a new leadership requirement has emerged to battle the insecurity that may arise from employees resulting from the fear of being replaced by AI.

As the relational mediator (Shouman, 2026), women leaders excel at "humanising" AI outputs and translating technical data into empathetic, actionable strategies. (Shouman, 2026). This capability bridges the "trust gap" between technology and staff, ensuring that digital transformation does not result in workforce alienation or cultural erosion.

Collective Intelligence, Innovation & Ethics

Women leaders then to encourage inclusive collaboration, which directly enhances a group's "collective intelligence" (Malamateniou, 2026). Research also suggests that women leaders are more effective at enabling equal contributions to discussions, allowing for a broader spectrum of problem-solving approaches (Malamateniou, 2026). This female leadership trait has a direct impact on knowledge sharing, improving employee innovation performance (Jing et al., 2022).

When it comes to ethics and Environmental, Sustainability & Governance (ESG) issues, women leaders are also more likely to prioritise ethical initiatives and sustainability, which has been linked to lower CO₂ emissions and better ESG compliance for organisations (Chung, 2026).

2. The Business Case For More Women Leaders

Singapore’s economy is defined by rapid digital transformation, acute talent crunches, and an urgent push towards internationalisation. Having more women leaders in the senior management team is a practical lever for SMEs to scale their business and for better risk mitigation. Research consistently indicates that companies with greater gender diversity in executive roles tend to outperform their peers in profitability, innovation, and long-term sustainability.²

Superior Financial Performance³

Higher Profitability

Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are 25–27% more likely to experience above-average profitability compared to those in the bottom quartile.

Reduced Risk

Companies with diverse boards are associated with lower volatility in returns, better risk management, and more stable financial performance.

Higher Profitability

Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are 25–27% more likely to experience above-average profitability compared to those in the bottom quartile.

Reduced Risk

Companies with diverse boards are associated with lower volatility in returns, better risk management, and more stable financial performance.

Enhanced Innovation and Decision-Making³

Broader Perspectives

Diverse management teams bring a wider range of life experiences, perspectives, and approaches to problem-solving, reducing the likelihood of “groupthink”.

Better Decision-Making

Gender-diverse teams also make better business decisions up to 73% of the time, leading to stronger, more sustainable results.

Broader Perspectives

Diverse management teams bring a wider range of life experiences, perspectives, and approaches to problem-solving, reducing the likelihood of “groupthink”.

Better Decision-Making

Gender-diverse teams also make better business decisions up to 73% of the time, leading to tronger, more sustainable results.

3. Empower Your Team with The Right Skills

If you are a women entrepreneur or senior leader and want to help your team build the right skills to move your organisation forward, speak to us now! We provide Performance Management, Leadership Coaching, Service Excellence & Design Thinking training that will equip your staff with the right knowledge and skill sets to excel in today’s environment.

References:

Anwar, S. (2026). It is not just about numbers: international evidence of women leadership index and corporate performance. Universitas Airlangga.

Brandazza, D. (2024). Women CEOs: Leadership for a Diverse Future. S&P Global.

Chung, A. M. (2026). Male allyship to advance women’s leadership in global health academia: A qualitative study. PMC.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13082618/

Javeed, A. (2026). Inclusive leadership and financial–marketing decision-making in crises: gender diversity and brand resilience. Frontiers in Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1730375

Jing, Z., Hou, Q., Zhang, Y., & Zhao, Y. (2022). The Relationship between Female Leadership Traits and Employee Innovation Performance—The Mediating
Role of Knowledge Sharing. Sustainability, 14(11), 6739. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116739

Malamateniou, C. (2026). “Lead like a woman”: strengthening healthcare, medical imaging, and oncology through female leadership. City Research Online.

Shouman, L. (2026). Empowering Women Across Generations: AI-Enhanced Learning for Inclusive Leadership Development. MDPI. Shouman, L. (2026). Empowering Women Across Generations: AI-Enhanced Learning for Inclusive Leadership Development. MDPI.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/16/2/9

Footnote:

1. Source: https://www.councilforboarddiversity.sg/resources/latest-statistics/

2. Source: https://www.home.saxo/en-sg/learn/guides/investment-theme/why-female-leadership-matters-for-investors-key-statistics-and-business-impact

3. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriklarson/2017/09/21/new-research-diversity-inclusion-better-decision-making-at-work/#3e13f7984cbf

Tags:AI Transformation Business Innovation C-Suite Leadership ESG Leadership Leadership Training performance management SME Growth Talent Retention women entrepreneurs Women Leaders

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