The research contains a detailed breakdown of company directors by gender, age and location. It reveals that while women are still outnumbered in the boardroom, where there are 3.4 male directors to every one female director, they are more likely to be involved in profit-making businesses.
Other areas where female directors are more likely to work than men are agriculture, forestry, health, social work, employment and education.
Female directors are also more likely to be found in small- to medium-sized business, located in the South West of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are less likely to be based in London, which has the poorest ratio of women to men in the boardroom.
The research, through Experian's National Business Database, found that young directors are more likely to be women, with the proportion of female directors in the 18-29 age bracket higher than that of male directors.
Richard Lloyd, director of Experian's B2B Marketing division, said: "Men may still dominate boardrooms across the UK but younger women are increasingly making careers at director level and so it is important to tailor relevant direct marketing material to appeal to both men and women."
He added: "The depth and breadth of B2B data in our National Business Database allow very specific targeting of directors and avoids the risk and potentially costly error of sending gender tailored direct marketing campaigns to the wrong sex."
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .