New figures released today (Monday) by the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) show that over half of all sports boards are failing to reach the minimum expectation of 25% female representation. The proportion of women on sports boards has remained stagnant at 22% since last year and has only increased by 1% since Sport England commissioned WSFF to produce the first Trophy Women? report in 2009. 

-  31 out of 57 boards surveyed do not meet the 25% minimum expectation 

-  Six sports boards do not have any female representation at all 

-  In 2009, 21% of board members were women.  This had risen to 22% in the 2011/12 report  but no further change has been seen a year on 

-  Sport England and UK Sport guidelines expect all sports boards to be made up of at least 25% women by   2017

-  9 sports have female CEOs

This disappointing progress, particularly after the successes of women in London 2012, is underscored by the fact that WSFF research shows that only 56 additional women would be needed to ensure every board reached the minimum expectation of 25%.   

The Secretary of State, Maria Miller and WSFF will this afternoon be hosting a round table event bringing together sports administrators, recruitment consultants and independent experts to examine how progress can be accelerated.

"We don't want extra women on sports boards just to make things fairer.  The lack of diversity makes it harder for them to give elite sportswomen the support they need - as well as damaging participation at grassroots level. It is particularly shocking that after the Olympics and Paralympics, six sports boards still don't have a single woman represented on them.

"The lack of representation of women on the UK's sports boards is a real problem and means that sports are missing out on the benefits that diverse leadership teams can bring. It also makes it less likely that sporting bodies fully understand what it takes to unlock the potential of women's sport in all aspects of their business including participation, sponsorship and media profile

"2012 was an incredible year for women's sport, and it is disheartening that this hasn't been reflected in an increase in the number of women on sports boards.

"This is not an insurmountable challenge. We just need an extra 56 women to ensure every sport reaches the 25% minimum target. But we must also be clear that 25% is only a starting point, sports need to step up and commit to this agenda, and dramatically increase the gender diversity of their leadership teams across their organisation for the benefit of our elite sportswomen, the good of the grassroots and the health of our nation."

"British women led the way in the Olympic and Paralympic Games with a gold rush of medals. But there is still some way to go to improve the representation of women in sports' governing bodies' boardrooms. Sports get public money to target both men and women to participate and this aim will be better served with a good gender balance at the top. I will push to see this issue addressed in the years to come and keep up the momentum from London 2012, encouraging more women to get involved in sport."

"We've seen welcome progress in the number of women playing sport but this isn't yet being reflected in the boardroom. Greater diversity in leadership positions will help sports improve the sporting offer for women across the country. These figures show that many of the NGBs have more to do to meet the minimum levels we're asking them to achieve by 2017."

"The elite female athletes we support are fantastic role models and provided so many wonderful and truly inspirational moments for the nation to enjoy at London 2012.These women played an incredible part in the amazing success at London 2012 with 92 female medallists in Olympic and Paralympic sports including the very first medal of the summer.

"UK Sport is currently funding almost 600 elite sportswomen for Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 through its World Class Performance Programme to help them continue to fulfil their dreams. There is undoubtedly untapped potential for women to have more senior roles in sport and we will be working incredibly hard with all the funded sports to help them achieve a better balance to their board representation over the next Olympic cycle."

1. Download a full breakdown of NGB results here

2. Sport England and UK Sport are working with sports bodies to support good practice in governance and leadership. As part of the investments in sports they announced in December 2012, UK Sport and Sport England set new governance requirements including the need to recruit more independent board members and set limits on terms of office, and an expectation that sports will increase the diversity of their Boards. By 2017, at least 25% of board membership is expected to be women (or men where they are currently significantly form the currently under-represented grouping). Progress on equality and diversity will be factors in future funding decisions.

3. Methodology:

For the first time, in addition to NGBs funded by Sport England, this year's survey also included those governing bodies funded by UK Sport. This meant that 57 bodies were surveyed rather than 47 in previous years. When making direct comparisons with figures in previous reports, please take this fact into consideration.

Out of the 57 NGBs, 20 are jointly funded, 27 are funded solely by Sport England and  10 are funded solely by UK Sport. England Athletics also receives funding from Sport England through UK Athletics. Women make up 20% of England Athletics’ board.

In January 2013, the 57 national governing bodies (NGBs) were emailed a link to an online survey focusing on the demographic profile of their staff and board. The questionnaire requested data on staff members, board members, non-board decision makers (e.g. heads of committees and executive decision making team), coaches (both affiliated and employed) and affiliated members (including youth profile). The gender of Development and Performance Directors were also included (if applicable).