The boardroom in this picture is empty. That's because the men haven't arrived. All the women have. The European Commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding, thinks that needs to end, and so she has launched a consultation which could lead to legislation requiring corporate board to reach a certain quota of female directors. In conjunction with the consultation, the European Union has produced a progress report giving the arguments for and some data suggesting the scale of the hurdle. It lists, for example, the percentage men and women directors set against the percentage of each in employment and among university graduates. It then argues that a better gender balance is good for you: - Improved corporate governance and ethics: "Studies have shown," it says, "that the quality of corporate governance and ethical behaviour is high in companies with high shares of women on boards.
- Better use of the talent pool: More than half the students graduating from Europe's universities are women. "By not including them in decision-making positions, female talent would be underutilized and the quality of appointments may be compromised," it continues. "Systematically including suitable candidates of both sexes ensures that board members are selected among the best distribution of both men and women."
While there has been a increase in the number of women on boards, the progress it details has been rather patchy. For example, in Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, the percentage of women on boards fell since October 2010 by more than eight per cent.
Source document: The EU consultation website has links to the documents and background. The consultation closes on May 28.
No comments:
Post a Comment