A report from Procurious, a business networking service based in the U.K., reveals a stark disconnect between appearance and experience when it comes to equality for women working in as procurement professionals.
While 52% of women say their workplace embraces gender equity, 66% still experienced some form of gender-based bias in 2025, from being overlooked in meetings to being paid less than male peers.
“For women in procurement, the question isn’t just ‘how far have we come?’ – it’s ‘Are we still moving forward, or starting to fall back?’” the report concludes.
The data shows, among other things, that 29% of women are being paid less than their male colleagues and 42% of companies lack any gender equality strategy. Further, only 30% of women say their company’s efforts to address gender bias are making a meaningful difference, and 31% of women cited lack of advancement as the number one reason to leave procurement.
And as DEI programs stall, and return-to-office mandates rise, over half expect increased work-life stress. One in four fear they’ll be pushed out of the workforce entirely, the report finds.
For the 2025 BRAVO Women in Procurement & Supply Chain Report: The Illusion of Inclusion, released June 10, Procurious surveyed 185 procurement and supply chain professionals — 154 of them women — to understand what’s changing, and what’s not. The results paint a complex picture: Signs of progress sit side-by-side with long-standing barriers. “Representation has improved, but not enough. Equity is part of the conversation, but not yet embedded in daily experience,” the report says. “And while women are clearer than ever about what they need to succeed, those needs often go unmet.”