World Economic Forum: Where are the women?

London: Just one in seven people attending the World Economic Forum in Davos this week is a woman.

Despite efforts to promote diversity at the annual event, just 16 per cent of the 2,500 delegates in the Swiss ski resort will be female. That is down from 17 per cent in 2011 — the year before quotas were introduced to make the event more representative.

Among those expected to attend this week are actress Goldie Hawn, Alliance Trust chief executive Katherine Garratt-Cox, and International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, but they will be heavily out-numbered by men.

Helena Morrissey, chief executive of Newton Investment Management and founder of the 30 Per Cent Club, said: “It’s a symbolic reminder of the progress we still need to make but I’m not so sure it matters. What has ever come out of Davos?”