Swan told HR magazine many businesses still have an outdated view of working practices that mean they still value "butts on seats" over the overall output of its employees.
"Presenteeism is still one of the biggest issues we have to tackle," she said. "The metrics that people look at when choosing people for senior management are still male-dominated."
Swan, who is leading discussions on gender diversity leadership at the World Economic Forum in September, added that accepting flexible working is one of the most important aspects of changing attitudes among leaders.
"The evidence suggests that women who have to work at home because they have children or for other reasons actually tend to be more productive," she added. "But until CEOs change their attitude and realise this it will be hard for female talent to get to the top."
A shortage of talent within management and a failure to promote women creates a "paradox" in leadership according to Swan. But she adds many CEOs she talks to see it only as a problem in organisations other than their own.
"A lot of them will talk about talent shortages and say 'but that's not going to happen to us'," she said. "But more are becoming aware of the need to introduce diversity through it being raised culturally. Eventually I think this social pressure will go a long way to forcing change."
