Where are the women? Women on boards – it’s not happening fast enough

Issue

The number of women in the boardroom matters. For many reasons. But let’s just start with performance. In a 2015 study, McKinsey found that companies with above-average gender equity are 15 percent more likely to outperform markets than those who lag in gender diversity. And yet, bad news for gender equality in the boardroom keeps on coming.

Effect

But we don’t seem to be getting any better. Check out new analysis from Cranfield School of Management, part of its 20^th The Female FTSE Board Report 2018 – Busy Going Nowhere With the Female Executive Pipeline, which tells us of a sharp drop in the number of women in c-suite or other executive roles in FTSE 250 companies. If we think of FTSE 250 as a pipeline for FTSE 100, this isn’t great to hear.

The report also outlines specific companies with women in senior roles.  Take a look.

Action

So what are we going to do about this? The study states that we see countries with mandated quotas are making change happen – so do we need to push other countries to do something similar? The clock continues to tick so we certainly need to start taking bolder action.

This is important. Analysis by Deloitte finds a clear connection between the rise in the number of women on boards around the world and the desire for a more inclusive kind of growth and a more inclusive kind of capitalism. If we are going to make broader changes in our capital markets, responsible investors need to sit up and take note of this.

Final thought for our readers…as well as the resources mentioned above, if you want to get more engaged in this issue, check out some of the resources from the 30 percent club, a fantastic organization campaigning for more women on corporate boards.