The firm of auditors, legal and tax consultants, Grant Thornton, has published its report on “Women in Business” analyzing the progress in women occupying senior roles.

This is the fourteenth consecutive year in which the report has come out, examining business policies of companies and new legislative developments among governments in 35 countries.

The report finds that global businesses have taken one step forward and one step back when it comes to gender diversity. In the last year, the percentage of companies without women in their senior leadership teams has gone down by 9%. However, the proportion of senior roles held by women has declined. This shows that companies are merely trying to comply with minimum ratios, rather than reaping the benefits of diversity by creating an inclusive culture.

The data in the report show that evolution of gender diversity in business is slow. Since 2014 the ratio of women in senior positions has increased 5%, so it now stands at 27%. It ranks 23rd in the international league table of the 35 countries covered by the study.

In Latin America, 65% of companies have at least one woman in a senior leadership role, and 30% of their management positions are occupied by women. In Europe, 73% of companies have at least one woman in a senior leadership role, but only 27% of their management positions are occupied by women.

The documents included 10 useful recommendations for senior managers and heads of business, providing them with tools to help implement an inclusive, diverse corporate culture.