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Research Article ISSN 2229 – 3795
ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 45
Volume 3 Issue 1, 2012
Female presence in boardrooms: Review of global scenario in the context of
legislative reforms in corporate governance Soumi Rai
Assistant Professor (OB & HR), Symbiosis Institute of International Business,
Symbiosis International University,
G.ni. 174/1, Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, MIDC, Hinjewadi, Pune – 411057,
Maharashtra, India
ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on understanding the various legislations initiated by countries across the
globe towards empowering women with representation on Company Management Boards
and restoring their gender rights in a male dominated business arena through Corporate
Quotas. The aim is to understand whether the ‘Legislative representation’ really has had any
impact on Company boards across these few countries through a review of preliminary
studies conducted in this domain. The paper represents a comparative study across developed
nations (viz. European countries, US, Canada) and some developing nations to understand
where they stand in the current perspective related to women representation on Corporate
Boards. This has been further extended in the context of the Asia-Pacific region to depict
where the concerned nations stand in the sphere related to women equality and empowerment,
while proposing empirical research in this region, to understand factors that attribute towards
lower presence of women on corporate boards (WOCB).
Keywords: Asia, Board, Corporate, Gender, Governance, Legislations, Quotas, Women,
WOCB
1. Introduction
The global scenario both socially and economically, has undergone a radical change process
over the century, with gradual progress and development of women not only across the
developed nations but also their lesser cousins – the developing nations (ILO Women in
Labour Markets 2011). Women empowerment is the buzz today with not only educated
women taking stride, but rural women following suite with access to information and
education. Supplemented by enhanced health benefits, economic liberty and moderate reform
policies; women across the world are gradually realizing their potential to score above men
and reclaim their rightful status in the society. There has been a growing interest in
understanding perspectives related to potential of women managers and their contribution to
business across the globe. Researchers have traditionally focused on understanding the
qualities of women managers, their contribution to business, having further delved on
attributes and capabilities of the ‘pink brigade’ through the eyes of the dominant sex (their
male counterparts) (see for example Norburn 1989, Srinivas et al 1999, Budhwar et al 2005,
Hodson and Sullivan 2008). Needless to say a plethora of research work over the last decade
has actually focused on understanding the level of women participation in management
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boards of companies across the world (see for example Burke 1997, Charan 1998, Flynn and
Adams 2004, Billimoria 2000a, Singh and Vinicombe 2001, 2005, Terejesan and Singh 2008,
2009) given the heightened interest in women empowerment, equality and gender diversity.
Policy makers, management gurus, business honchos alike keep scrambling over each other
in a bid to portray their ‘Equity stand’, that is their belief in equality for all sexes; especially
the ‘fairer sex’. Come International Women’s Day, and across the world host of conferences,
events, gatherings vie for attention from Women Leaders, entrepreneurs and their socialist
counterparts to honor and felicitate them on this very ‘SPECIAL’ occasion. Magazines,
newspapers and television channels go overboard portraying glossy pictures and clips of
smiling women leaders accepting honors and accolades. But is ‘women empowerment’ or
‘equity’ for women contained in that one very special day of 8th
March? This is a question
that till today remains unanswered; reason the gross figures and research reports that over the
years have diligently tracked the growth of women managers on corporate boards across the
globe – highlighting a not so rosy picture as seemingly expected through the tinted glasses of
the business domain.
1.1 Women participation in workforce – trends
The participation of women in workforce has ever been traditionally limited to spheres like
teaching, nursing and administration which required less strenuous activities and allowed
women the dual option of being both a supplementary income source and a care giver while
retaining her primary domestic responsibilities. Societal pressures and gender stereotyping
over the centuries ensured that women were limited to jobs that allowed them more flexibility
but less monetary benefits, with an assumption that women either did not have the
capabilities to perform other jobs in male dominated spheres or simply did not possess
interest in them. (Hodson and Sullivan 2008)
A study by the ILO Bureau of statistics for ‘Economically active population from 1950-
2010’, highlights that economically active women in the workforce during 1950 were merely
32.4 percent in the age group 15-64 years, forecasting an increase to about 41.2 percent by
2010 with major increase happening in the developed nations and mainly across the
agricultural and services segment than manufacturing segment. The ILO report on Global
employment trends for Women 2009, details that there has been an increase in women
participation in the labour force from 52.4 percent in 1998 to around 52.6 percent in 2008,
increasing slightly to 52.7% by year 20091. ILO research depicts share of women in
workforce going up to 40.5% in 2008 from 39.9 % in 1998. It further portrays an average
increase of female employment ratio by 1.2% for Adult employment-to-population ratio
across nations, with significant increase happening in Latin America (almost 8.4%); the only
exception being South East Asia and the Pacific decreasing by 1.1%. The ILO Global
Employment Trends report 2011 details an overall increase in Female employment-to-
population ratio across the world from 48.2% in 2000, to 49.2% in 2006 with a slight increase
in 2010 to 49.4%.2
What then has changed over the past decades that have ushered in this radical change across
the globe? The fact that women are looking up and being ambitious is obviously just the
periphery factor, strong determination to usher in change both for themselves and the society
1 Source: ILO Global Employment Trends 2011, Table A9
2 Source: ILO Global Employment Trends 2011, Table A5
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at large, marking their individuality and creating a space of their own in a world
predominantly inhibited by men is fuelling them on.
The western world comprising developed nations has always been leading us in terms of
women empowerment in professional domains. Today the US has almost 51% representation
of women in the workforce; Europe leads the chart with Denmark having almost 75%
representation of women in the workforce and Sweden a close second at 70%. 3 The Eurostat
2009 Labour force survey detailed a continuous increase in women employment rate from
53.6% in 2000 to 59.1% in 2008, amongst member nations.
Source: EUROSTAT 2009
Given these impressive statistics, it is only natural to feel elated about increasing participation
of women in the workforce. However on a closer look, the same reports reveal that these
statistics are a combined outlook for women working across both developed and developing
nations in all sectors (namely agricultural, manufacturing, services and allied sector). Only a
small portion of women are working in the manufacturing sector (18.3% in 2008), with the
majority working in the service sector (46.3% in 2008) and the agricultural sector. The data
also highlights that while agricultural sector comprises a miniscule part of women
employment across Developed countries and the European Union, it accounts for almost 60%
women employment in Sub Saharan regions and South Asia. Another recent report by ILO4
on women participation and gender disparity highlights that although there has been an
increase in employability of women, around one-fourth of them still are unpaid contributing
family workers with no direct pay for their efforts. Even the miniscule percent that are part of
the employed population work in low paying jobs, slogging long hours with informal work
arrangements. There is huge disparity in pay across sectors with male counterparts getting
paid much higher than their female counterparts. Glaring differences existing even across
developed nations on pay disparity amongst the genders highlight discrimination for women
in workforce at all levels. Interestingly while women employment-to-population ratio has
3 Source: Eurostat
4 ILO-Women in Labour Markets, Measuring progress and identifying challenges, March 2010, Pg 3, 12, Table
2D
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shown steady increase from 1999 to 2009 across seven of nine world regions, there has been
a decrease in this percent across the regions of East Asia and South-East Asia & the Pacific.
Thus it is not hard to understand why women find increased representation across boards in
Developed nations and the European Union but have limited or no representation across
African and Asian nations.
2. Gender diversity in boardrooms and related challenges
Research in the domain of Corporate Governance suggests that boardroom diversity is the
need of the hour for overall improved business performance. Notably so this has been an area
of concern with more homogeneity than heterogeneity in the composition of Corporate
Boards. Researchers believe that diversity, be it in terms of ethnicity, demography or gender
related representation bring more variety in terms of experience and opinions in the board
reducing perception bias and myopic viewpoints towards decision making. While researchers
like Charan (1998), Westphal and Zajac (1995) focused on boardroom diversity as an area for
Corporate Governance related reforms, others like Noburn (1989) and Singh, Vinicombe and
Johnson (2001) focused on understanding the meaning of diversity across UK boards.
Norburn (1989) through his research of UK boards found that board members were drawn
from known networks thus increasing board homogeneity, reducing conflicts and allowing
the CEO to take tactical decisions based on personal goals rather than overall shareholder
interest. Researchers point out that this lack of positive conflicts and diverse viewpoints may
not necessarily heighten business performance, conversely such boardroom homogeneity can
have negative implications for business.
Charan (1998) believed that this stagnation in boardrooms needs to be challenged through
major corporate reforms in terms of board member appointments from diverse groups
increasing board heterogeneity. Similar view was echoed by Billimoria (2000a) through his
research that found overall financial profitability was higher in 50 of the Fortune 500 listed
companies that had women directors on board. He felt that this could either be a result of
boardroom gender diversity or could on the other side be related to the open mindset of
profitable companies that accepted women representation in their boards. Another interesting
fact highlighted by Billimoria (2000a) detailed women being appointed as additional
directors rather than replacement for existing directors on company boards. He linked this to
the fact that visible presence of women directors on boards enhanced corporate reputation
and image as equal opportunity employer, which can lead to higher investments by large fund
house thus being a motivating reason for increased gender diversity across profitable
companies.
Taking this further Singh et al (2001) reviewed considerable research done across the world
detailing women representation on Corporate Boards while conducting their survey on top
UK organizations. They found that there is indeed quite a low representation of women
directors even in a developed nation like United Kingdom, wherein male CEO’s feel that
women at such senior levels lack boardroom experience and maturity. Perceptual male bias
towards their abilities to undertake critical international assignments, challenging tasks and
hardship profiles have been cited as some of the reasons hampering movement of women
across corporate boardrooms.
Culture specific attitude towards women managers and its related discriminations also feature
as one of the prominent reasons impacting boardroom gender diversity. Srinivas et al(1999)
through a cross-cultural attitude study across four countries found favorable attitude towards
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women managers in developed nations like US but a more negative approach in developing
nations like India and Mexico with Japanese male managers clearly hinting at their reluctance
to work under female bosses preferring to keep gender roles separate. This attitudinal bias is
clearly reflected through a survey by Terjesan and Singh (2008) that depicts Japan with a
mere 2% representation of women in corporate board with highest representation by Slovenia
(European Union) at almost 23%.
Despite perceptual and attitudinal issues, research conducted across companies with women
directors on board has divulged the positive impact of female power on firm performance and
governance sustainability. To better understand how gender diversity impacts corporate
governance in turn impacting firm performance, Terjesan et al (2009) conducted an in-depth
review and research on women representation across Corporate Boards. Their study found
that boards with women representation are more formal and structured with a clear focus on
company strategy, implementation and measurement. There is more transparency in board
governance practices with reduced bias in board member selection process through use of
professional sources increasing overall heterogeneity in the composition of boards,
encouraging diverse views and opinions. The paper interestingly notes that in presence of
female board members, male counterparts behave in a more civilized manner moderating
their masculinity leading to better task management, performance and efficient governance.
Their comprehensive research combining review of 400 published research papers on WOCB,
highlight unique attributes of female directors relating to their experience, knowledge, skills
and ‘feminine intuition’ that help in strategic decision making with a more open mindset
balancing practical task attributes with detailed analysis.
3. Women representation on corporate boards – global excerpts
There is a plethora of research that has been conducted in the last decade detailing women
participation as directors on Corporate/Company Boards. However most of the researchers
have used different parameters for tracking this data, some considering only full-time
executive director positions across Fortune 500 companies while others have included non-
executive director positions along with a consideration for smaller companies with family
members (female members) acting as representatives on company boards. It thus becomes
difficult to accurately state the percentage of exact representation by women on corporate
boards in a global context, all the same an attempt has been made to collate available research
reports and depict some interesting facts relating to representation of the ‘fair sex’ in
company boardrooms.
3.1 Canada
Study by Burke (1997) across Canadian public and private sector organizations5 found than
less 5% women act as directors on board of Canadian private sector companies, with an
average of 3.5 board service by women across sectors. Most of these women were full-time
directors (57%) while others functioned as directors of own businesses (13%) or as
Consultants (7%). It was also found that one-third of the sample size (278 women directors
had professional qualifications and experience with almost half (48%) having general
management expertise. This has significantly changed over the years with women labour
force participation going up from 45.4% in 1997 to 47.3% in 20106. Catalyst survey of
5 Sample size of 278 Female directors from the Directory of Directors by Financial Times
6 Catalyst survey 2011: Women in Management in Canada
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Canadian Financial Post 500 firms portrays a 5% increase in senior management positions
held by women from 12.0% in 1999 to 17.7% in 2010. Even the percentage of women in
senior management occupation has shown significant rise from 25.2% in 1995 to 31.2 % by
2010. Despite this visible growth of women in senior management positions, their share as
women directors on Canadian boards stands at an average of 14%7, way less than their
European counterparts.
3.2 The United States
Flynn and Adams (2004) in their compiled study on data related to both Fortune 500
companies and Fortune 501-1000 companies present an interesting picture relating to women
in US boards. As on 2003, percentage of women holding board seats in United States Fortune
500 companies stood at 13.6% with about 10.8% companies having no women holding board
seats. Breaking down this data statistically, the researchers found that of the 100 largest
public sector companies in Massachusetts, only 9% had women directors on board while over
50% had no women directors at all. The situation did not brighten with Chicago’s 50 largest
companies having 12.4% women holding board seats and 10% having no women directors. In
Philadelphia’s 120 largest companies surveyed, 11.5% had women directors on board while
around 34.2% had no women in the boardroom. Again Georgia’s 175 public companies had
just 7.1% board seats held by women with 54.3% companies having no women directors.
Thus on an average the participation of women on corporate boards across U.S. Fortune 500
companies ranges from 10-12%. Interestingly the data reveals that while percentage of
women directors are higher in Fortune 500 companies (with most having one or two directors
on board), the numbers drastically drop for companies in Fortune 501-1000, citing instance of
Chicago with only 8.4% representation of women on board and Philadelphia with a mere
9.2% in the same category. There seems to have been little progress in these figures even
after 6 years, with the Catalyst Census on U.S. Fortune 500 companies 2010 depicting a
growth of just 2% from 13.6% ( in 2003) to 15.7% (in 2010) for women holding board seats.
The survey data also categorized boards with one or more women directors and found that
while over 50% companies had at least 2 women directors, a significant 10% had no women
in their boardroom, a situation that definitely needs improvement.
3.3 The European nations
According to the European Union Labour Survey Report (2009), the employment rate for
women in the age category of 15-64 years, across these EU27 countries steadily increased
from 53.7% in 2000 to around 59.1% by 2008 with the first ever drop happening in 2009 to
58.6%. This has further reduced to around 58.2% by year 2010 as per the latest European
Union Labour Survey Report 2010.8 A glance at these statistics could signify that the
situation of women participation in employment across the European Union is similar to that
existing across other nations of the world with women having reducing employment rates
versus their male counterparts. A closer look however portrays an altogether different picture,
because women empowerment and participation has been steadily rising in these countries
(specifically the Scandinavian nations) owing to governmental support and dictum.9 The
fourth bi-annual European Board Women Monitor Report 2010, details that there has been a
consistent increase in the proportion of women in Europe’s top companies (around 300 as per
7 Catalyst Fortune 500: 2010 Census
8 See Eurostat Report 2009 and 2010 – European Union Labour Force Survey.
9 Refer Pg 15-22 relating to detailed discussion on impact of Legislations in the European cotries.
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survey) up to 12% in 2010 from just 8% in 2004. Almost 80% companies surveyed across
these nations have at least one women director on board. Figures are highly positive for
Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands and Denmark) which lead
the survey results, with a dismal show by countries like Italy and Portugal having just 3.9%
and 3.4% representation respectively. The European Board Diversity Analysis 2010, by Egon
Zehnder International looked at a sample size of 340 companies across 17 European countries
with a market capitalization over EURO 4 billion; their study found similar statistics of
average 12.2% representation by women on these corporate boards. While Scandinavian
nations tend to lead the representation figures with 1 in 3 board directors being women
(Norway -31.9%, Finland – 28.8% and Sweden – 28.7%), it is heartening to note that eight
countries have broken the 10% barrier (Austria, Belgium, France, Denmark, the Netherlands,
Republic of Ireland and the UK). France has shown a significant rise with representation by
women increasing by a significant 4.8% to 12.4% in 2010, which only goes and reconfirms
its stand on increasing women diversity on corporate boards. However as earlier discussed
even amongst the European nations, countries like Greece, Italy and Luxembourg still have
over 50% companies with no women directors on board.
Source: European Board Diversity Analysis 2010, Egon Zehnder International
3.4 The United Kingdom
The Cranfield School of Management has been undertaking continued research over the past
decade to understand increasing participation of women in the corporate boardrooms,
specifically in the context of FTSE 100 companies (Financial Times/London Stock
Exchange). Supported by the UK department of Equalities, this continuing research work
covers a plethora of data and findings pertaining to women participation in workforce and
subsequent rise as members of the board. In one of the earliest research papers (Singh et al
2001), the emphasis is on detailing how diverse representation in boards through women
members, can increase or impact firm performance positively. The researchers analyzed that
while 64% of FTSE 100 companies had at least one female director in 1999, the percentage
dropped to 58% by 2000; comparatively the percentage of companies with no female
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directors went up from 36% in 1999 to 42% in 2000.10
The percentage seems to have further
declined to 57% in 2001, before improving and moving from 68% in 2003 to 78% in 2005.
However in terms of female executive directors the figures are significant, the data moves
from 10% companies having female executive directors in 2000 to only 8% in 2001, moving
up gradually to 13% in 2003 and dipping back below even 2002 limits (12%) to only 11%
companies with female executive directors by 2005.11
The Female FTSE 100 Report 2010
(Vinicombe et al, 2010) does not reflect a heartening picture either, with a steady plateau in
terms of FTSE 100 companies with at least one female director. The percentage for this data
moves from 78% in 2008, to a mild dip of 75% in 2009; going back to up to 79% again in
2010. The percentage of women directors on board has remained steady at 12.5% in 2010,
with a slight increment over 2008 (11.7%) but a significant rise from 2000 (5.8%).Though
the portrayal seems stagnating, there has been some increase in female executive directorship,
around 18% by 2010 across FTSE 100 companies.12
Researchers through this study further
analyzed FTSE 250 companies, reporting almost 52.4% such companies having no female
directors on board and just 7.8% companies having women board directors.
3.5 Asia and the Pacific
Asian companies lag behind their European, American and even their Australian counterparts
in equality and gender diversity parameters. Study by Korn/Ferry International in 100 largest
companies across emerging Asia-Pacifica economies13
show dismal figures below 10%
representation by women on boards of these companies.
Source: Korn/Ferry International Asian Board Diversity 2011
Hong Kong has 8.6%, China 8.1%, Malaysia 7.8% women as company directors with the
figures going low to 6.1% at Singapore and 4.7% only in India. Australia leads in the regional
10
See Singh et al 2001, Pg 209 11
See Singh et al, (2005), Female FTSE100 report 2005, Pg 4 12
See Female FTSE Report 2010, Pg 8 and Female FTSE100 report 2005, Pg 4 13
Comprising of Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore
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study with 44% boards representing at least one female director with China standing next at
39%, and New Zealand lower down the bar at just 23%. Surprisingly over 70% companies in
these six countries had no women independent directors, while boards with three or more
women directors were a rarity. The study also found that 348 of 700 boards in these countries
had only male directors with only 22 boards having more than two directors in either
executive or non-executive independent director roles. Leadership positions were virtually
absent in Asian and Pacifica companies, with New Zealand having no female CEO’s, Hong
Kong and India having just 2%, Australia 3% and Singapore 5% female CEO’s. Statistically
China scored in this category with 7% female CEO’s14
.
Comparative data for countries in the Asia-Pacific region shows quite a difference in the
Catalyst Survey 2010, wherein smaller developing countries like Philippines and Thailand
have 19.2% and 10.4% women on corporate boards respectively, while their developed
counterparts like Japan and South Korea have just 0.9% and 1.5% representation in that order.
Source: Catalyst Survey 2010: Women on Boards
Interestingly, the GMI15
Survey 2010 depicts Philippines scoring highest in the category
related to companies having at least one female director on company board, a round figure of
100% with Thailand following close behind at 72.73%. These comparative figures with wide
variations amongst developed and developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region, portray
the participation levels of women in workforce which to an extent may be culture specific
tuned to traditional mindsets of the concerned countries where women empowerment in work
domain figures lowest on priority.
3.5 a. Australia and New Zealand
The Australian Bureau of Statistics in their latest statistics on Labour Force survey 201116
,
detail the increasing trends in women participation in the workforce from the year 1978,
14
Companies in China have presidents than CEO’s. 15
Governance Metric International Survey 2010 16
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/6202.0Oct%202011?OpenDocument
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wherein the employment-to-population ratio for females has increased from 39.5% in Feb
1978 to 56.1 % in Oct 2011, while the overall employment considering both full-time and
part-time workers in thousands has swelled from 2098.3 in 1978 to 5246.4 in the year 2011.
Despite these impressive statistical numbers of female employment in the country, EOWA
Australian Census of women in Leadership 2010 depicts the stagnant growth of Australian
women in the boardrooms across ASX 200 companies, which shows a mere increase of 0.2%
over 2004 figures from 8.2% to about 8.4% in 2010. GMI17
data on the other side shows a
declining trend in the average percentage of women on Australian boards going down from
10.53% in 2009 to only 8.28% in 2010. In a bid to address the growing concern for
continued decline of women at senior management levels, the Australian government has
issued recommendations under the ASX Corporate Governance Council Corporate
Governance Principles and Recommendations in 2010; for public listed companies to adopt
and publicly disclose a diversity policy that gives a clear picture of women representation on
boards and also measure objectively progress in attaining this diversity. However since these
are recommendations and not mandatory policies; their adoption and subsequent impact
remains debatable.
3.5 b. India
According to the Registrar General of India, the proportion of women in the workforce in
1981 was 19.7 percent and it rose to 22.7 percent in 1991, further rising to 25.7 percent in
2001. However the figures again dipped to an average of almost 19% by the year 2004.18
The Economic Survey 2007 – 2008 also conveys some interesting facts in terms of women
participation in the workforce in the organized sector. As compared to the private sector
which has 20.95 lakhs women against 63.57 lakhs men, the Public sector has a dismal 29.21
lakhs women against 150.86 lakhs men in the workforce.
While prevalent data suggests that women have almost one-third participation in the
workforce, their representation reduces statistically at the ascending stages of the corporate
ladder, specifically at the senior management positions. GMI19
data on India depicting
average percentage of women on boards show a slight increase of 0.58% from 2009 (4.21%)
to 2010 (4.79%).
The Cranfield School of Management in association with Community Business conducted an
extensive survey on BSE-10020
listed companies in India, covering a total of 1,124
directorships to understand the status of women representation in corporate boardrooms
across these top listed Indian companies. This was further followed by interview data
collection for 18 senior women leaders to understand their perspectives towards women
participation in Indian boards. The survey found that of the total 1,124 directorship in the
BSE-100 listed companies (comprising 26 industry classifications)21
, only 59 directorships
(just about 5.3%) and 8 executive directorships (around 2.5%) out of 323 total executive
directorship positions, were held by women. In terms of companies, the survey portrays 54
companies having no female directors on board (54%) with 46 companies having at least one
17
Governance Metric International Survey 2010 18
Nasscom 19
Governance Metrics International Survey 2010 20
BSE-100: Bombay Stock Exchange 100 public listed companies 21
Refer Standard Chartered Bank: Women on Corporate Boards in India 2010, Pg 17-20
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female director and only 12 companies with multiple female directors (more than one). These
findings reflect pathetic situation of women in leadership roles in a country like India where
women literacy levels have been steadily growing (Census Survey 2011 recorded women
literacy rate at 65.46%, up by 11.79% as against the male literacy rate at 82.14%, going up
only by 6.88%)22
.
4. Legislations for women representation on board
In December 2003 the Norwegian Parliament amended the Public Limited Companies Act to
give public limited companies five years to either ensure that women held 40 per cent of the
seats of each listed company listed or risk closure. The requirement came into effect on
January 1, 2008, and the government further began considering extending the law to cover
family-owned companies as well. The legislation attracted extensive and vociferous criticism
from business, much like children throwing tantrums when forced to do something they don't
want to do.
Statistics Norway revealed that by February 19, 2008, 39 per cent of the board representatives
in public limited companies were women. 93 per cent of the 459 public limited companies
had met the requirements of representation of both sexes laid down in the Public Limited
Companies Act. 23
France has been debating a legislation since 2010 and has recently (mid-January 2011)
approved passing of a legislation mandating 40% representation of women on board of
companies listed on the French stock exchange (CAC 40) by 201624
. Currently France has
just 15% representation on board of CAC 40 listed companies, however if this legislation gets
passed then the numbers will swell to almost 40% in an estimated time frame of 6 years
(Based on growth evidence and impact of Norway quota legislation)25
.
Despite such strong representation by women on Corporate Boards across European nations,
countries like Sweden still do not have any formal legislation for women representation on
board. They currently have policies under corporate governance striving towards gender
equality in boardrooms. However now the Swedish government is proposing that companies
listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange should ensure that they have 40 per cent of women
on their main boards by 2010 else face fines until the representation is achieved.
According to Elin Hurvenes, Founder of the Professional Boards Forum – “Sweden has a
strong line of women investors, both heiresses and women wealthy in their own right, who
serve on the boards of companies they invest in and that helps. The Swedes currently have
about 23% women on their boards, which is well above the European average” 26
The Spanish Parliament too has taken forward steps in ensuring women representation on
Company boards. Through a recent legislation, the government has called for 40 per cent
board participation by 2015 for women. Belgium too is considering quota legislation since
2009 which proposes that company boards should have at least one third directors as women.
22
http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/data_files/india/Table-2(3)_literacy.pdf 23
http://back2003.en.epochtimes.com/news/8-7-7/73015.html 24
Women in Corporate Boardrooms: A global perspective, Deloitte Consulting Report 2011, Pg 9 25
Refer discussions 26
http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/14/norway-french-legislation-equality-forbes-woman-leadership-executive-
boards.html
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A strong debate on this issue has been storming the Belgian parliament; however the passing
of legislation in this context is still pending.
On the other side of the globe while both United States and Canada do not have any
mandatory legislations towards enhancing women representation on company boards, both
these countries have norms under Corporate Governance that encourage and strive towards
diversity in boardrooms for listed and regulated companies, keeping a tab on the participation
levels of women in the workforce and at senior management positions. Similarly countries
like Australia, under its ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) Corporate Governance Council
Corporate Governance Principles and Regulations; have issued new recommendations in
2010 aimed at increasing boardroom diversity through enhanced participation of women
employees specifically at senior management levels.27
The Indian government too has taken some steps in enhancing women representation in the
legislative sphere by passing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the upper House (Rajya
Sabha) mandating 33% reservation for women in gram panchayats (village councils), state
assemblies and the parliament in 2010, which has been applauded as a historic step towards
women empowerment28
. However the intentions of the government remain sketchy in
relation to corporate quotas for women, with changes to be proposed in the Companies Bill
2009 mandating one board seat be reserved for women on boards comprising five or more
independent directors29
.
A report published by Catalyst 2010, summarizes the different legislations and corporate
governance norms across countries which have already implemented policies for mandatory
inclusion of women in corporate boards, while also giving an overview for countries that are
still debating implementation of such mandatory legislations/norms.
Implemented
Country
or Region
Date Type Details
Australia July 2010 Regulation
(Disclosure)
Companies must legally operate under an “if
not, why not” mandate. Companies must
reveal the achievement against board-
established gender objectives; the number of
women employees in the entire organization,
in senior management, and on the board; and
companies are encouraged to review gender
diversity of the board and organization
Finland 2010
Regulation
(Corporate
Governance
Code)
In effect January 1, 2010. Public companies
need to have both genders represented on the
board of directors (typically regarded as at
least one woman). If not, companies must
explain the reason why.
In 2004, the Finnish government instituted a
27
Women in Corporate Boardrooms: A global perspective, Deloitte Consulting Report 2011, Pg 6-17 28
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-09/india/28137030_1_unruly-scenes-women-s-
reservation-bill-constitution-amendment-bill 29
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/women-to-get-one-reserved-seatcompany-boards/427860/
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2004
Regulation
(Target)
program requiring that women constitute at
least 40 percent of board members in
companies that are wholly owned by the State.
The target was achieved in Spring 2006.
Iceland 2010 Legislation Publicly owned companies and public limited
companies with 50 or more employees must
have at least 40% of both genders by 2013.
Israel 1993 (gov’t
companies);
1999
(public
& private
companies)
Legislation The 1993 Amendment 6 of the Government
Companies Act (1975) states that for
companies in which the government owns at
least 51%, “appropriate expression will be
given to the representation of both sexes” and
that government ministers will appoint
directors from the underrepresented sex when
feasible. The 1999 Companies Act states that
if a board of directors is all one gender, then
when pointing one of two mandated outside
directors, the company shall appoint someone
from the other gender.
Norway 2003 Legislation Required 40% of directors on boards in
Norway to be women. State-owned
enterprises had until 2006 to comply, while
public companies had until 2008.
Quebec December
2006
Legislation The Quebec Parliament voted into law a
policy mandating the equal number of women
and men on the boards of directors of state
companies. Organizations have until
December 14, 2011 to comply
Spain 2007
May 2006
Legislation
Regulation
(Corporate
Governance
Code)
4 out of 10 seats must go to women, starting
in 2015.
Voluntary regulation adopted by the Comisión
Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV).
Companies with no or few women directors
should explain why and the measures taken to
correct it. Specifically, the Nomination
Committee should take steps to ensure that the
process for filling board vacancies has no
implicit bias against women and that the
company makes a conscious effort to consider
women candidates for vacancies.
Sweden July 2008 Regulation
(Corporate
Governance
Code)
For all Swedish limited companies whose
shares are traded on regulated markets in
Sweden, the company is to strive for equal
gender distribution on the board.
United
Kingdom
2010 Regulation
(Corporate
Governance
Code)
When searching for and appointing directors,
companies must “pay due regard for the
benefits of diversity on the board, including
gender.”
United
States
February
2010
Regulation
(Disclosure)
There are no quotas, but public companies and
mutual funds must disclose in their proxy
statements whether or not diversity is a
consideration when directors are named. If
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these companies consider diversity during
appointment proceedings, the SEC requires
disclosure of how this policy is implemented,
and how the board (or nominating
committees) evaluates the effectiveness of this
diversity policy.
Source: CATALYST 2010
Proposed/in-process
Country or
Region
Date Type Details
Belgium 2006-2009 Legislation Corporate governance code effective; quota
legislation proposed in Parliament.
Senator Sabine De Béthune (CD&V) stated
last November [2009] that she wanted to
legislate on the quotas of women in
companies listed on the
stock exchange. Minister Joëlle Milquet
immediately came out in support of the idea,
and it is now being discussed.
Britain Legislation Britain is “considering state-mandated
quotas”.
Canada July 2010 Legislation The Senate is currently considering the
“Board of Directors Gender Parity Act,”
which would require certain corporations,
financial institutions, and parent Crown
corporations to have 50% women directors
(or for boards with an odd number of
members, the difference between women and
men directors equaling one)
European
Union
August
2010
Legislation Though nothing is currently formalized yet,
E.U. Fundamental Rights Commissioner
Viviane Reding has stated that unless
companies change their numbers, the
Commission will create legislation mandating
that women be 20% of board members
France June 2010 Legislation France is currently considering legislation
that would require 40% of corporate board
members to be women by 2016. The bill
passed the French National Assembly in
January 2010; Final vote required (expected
January 2011). The
authors of the proposed law are French
Deputies Jean-François Copé and Marie-Jo
Zimmermann.
Italy November
2009
Legislation Italy is currently considering legislation
(proposta di legge n. 2956) for publicly
traded companies, requiring at least one-third
of board seats to be held by women (i.e., the
least represented gender). Passed the House
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December 2010, still needs to pass in the
Senate.
Source: CATALYST 2010
4.1 Analysis
4.1.1 Do legislations/quotas make a difference?
While progress for women as managers, entrepreneurs and socialists have initiated a
comprehensive portfolio of research; there has been less focus on understanding the ground
realities pertaining to various reforms and legislatures enacted across the world towards
women equality and empowerment and their related impact towards increasing representation
of women in corporate boardrooms.
Pande and Ford (2011) in their background paper for the World Development Report in
Gender, highlight this very aspect of various legislations and quotas adopted by countries
worldwide, summarizing the positive impact of such policies on increasing participation level
of women in leadership positions in both political and business domains. The paper through
its analysis looks at various statistics related to increased participation of women in the
legislative voting process (increased from 96% countries in 1994, providing the right to vote
for women to 100% in 2006), increasing presence in legislative boards (around 19.4 %
legislators across the world are women30
with Nordic countries leading again at 42.3%) while
creating an overview of factors that act as potential barriers for success of women as leaders
either in political or corporate roles. The paper ends with an open question on the success of
political and corporate quotas towards enhancing presence of women in these domains which
lacks empirical evidence at this stage, being more causal than factual.
Wider perspective on analyzing the impact of legislations seems to eventually commence
with Norway; being the first country to have ever implemented mandatory legislations for
Corporate Quotas.31
The impact of Legislation has been tremendous in Norway. Initially the
representation of women on Norwegian Board was a mere 6% which has rapidly grown up to
almost 39.5% in 2009 as a result of women quota legislation. But the question that remains
open is whether organizations across Norway have adopted this legislation in the true sense32
,
or are they merely trying to fill up positions to avoid non-compliance and thereby company
dissolution by the Norwegian government. Matsa and Miller (2011), in their working paper
study on the Norwegian quota system and Scandinavian countries found empirical evidence
that operating profits declined for firms that adopted quotas in the short-term perspective due
to increase in wage cost and higher employment rates attributed to decisions by women
members on board, which seems to suggest that this system is not healthy in share-holder
interest. However they further also stress that in the long-term adopting female on board shall
be beneficial from the perspective of the working populace wherein female directors look
towards increasing short-term wage cost and offsetting its impact through long-term increase
in labour productivity. When looking at changes in demographics of talented women for
recruitment to boardrooms before implementation of quota legislations, the same study found
that no major differences existed in terms of education, experience and professional
30
http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm 31
Refer legislations for women on board 32
Meaning sincere interest in increasing boardroom diversity for informed and unbiased decision making
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backgrounds amongst women who were recruited to corporate boards’ pre-2009 to those who
were recruited post this time period.
Across Europe barring the rapid growth of Norway; representation of women on corporate
boards has been quite slow as revealed through data spanning from 2006 to 2010 by Catalyst
Census Survey. While most of the European nations have been deliberating implementation
of legislations and mandatory reforms in Corporate Governance norms, aimed at increasing
numbers for women in the boardrooms of publicly listed companies on their respective Stock
Exchanges; progress has been at snail pace. Most countries have either allocated timelines till
2016 for public companies to comply with women inclusiveness related diversity in
boardrooms or have issued recommendations for companies to state reasons for failing to
fulfill this criterion; results of which have been varied and sporadic.
Source: CATALYST SURVEY 2010: Women on Boards
The Fourth Bi-annual European PWN Board Women Monitor 2010 further portrays
Netherlands having taken over the lead position from the United Kingdom. With 15.8%,
almost double the percentage of 2006 (6.5%), this country clearly benefits from the many
private initiatives and press attention for the issue of women’s under representation on boards
in the past few years. The UK at 13.59% seems to have improved slightly after having
reached a standstill in 2008 (around 11.5%), with the percentage hardly moving since 2006
(11.4%) after an initial encouraging growth rate of 1.4 percentage points from 10% in 2004.
Growth in France has also fairly improved (11.95%) than it’s below average results in 2008
with 7.6% women on board and around 7.3% in 2006. Germany too has recorded an average
growth of women on boards, from 7.2% in 2006 to 7.8% in 2008, to just about 8.5% in
2010.33
Preliminary studies based on statistical data seems to suggest that this slight increase
in women representation can be attributable to heightened curiosity on enhancing Corporate
33
http://www.europeanpwn.net (Third Bi-annual European PWN Board Women Monitor 2008), (Fourth Bi-
annual European PWN Board Women Monitor 2010)
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diversity at senior management levels and also partly to ongoing debates and discussions for
WOCB in the legislative and governance spheres; however the actual picture shall only
emerge on focused and detailed empirical research of attributable variables.
4.2 Does gender disparity across regions impact women representation in boardrooms?
It is interesting to note that while statistical data on global level depict an increased
representation of women in the workforce34
, it is only Scandinavian countries wherein
women have got true representation in senior management position through formal
legislations and mandatory reforms in Corporate Governance norms. The disparity is clearly
visible amongst even the European nations with some countries initiating mandatory policies
for women empowerment and representation; while others have merely provided
recommendations under Corporate Governance norms for registering diversity and women
inclusiveness. The question that arises herewith is; whether the picture portrayal of stronger
women representation in some European nations vis-à-vis their counterparts has any linkage
to the gender disparity and status existing in these countries which may be either historical or
culture based.
Adler (1986) through her study on the global scenario of women in management gives an
interesting portrayal of different nations in the context of female managers. She cites that the
reason Sweden leads the gender equality chart in terms of labour force participation rates may
be attributable to separate taxation norms for married women in 1971 and parenthood
insurance introduced in 1974 along with norms for flexible work arrangements and strong
societal support by the government through child-care facilities, ensuring higher percentage
of married women in the workforce. This fact is supported through the ILO Women in
Labour markets report 2011, which details aspects of other Scandinavian nations like Finland
and the Netherlands where female labour employment rates have increased significantly with
a sharp rise in the Netherlands (at 19.1%), which has been attributed to strong support by the
concerned governments in initiating policies that support women career development like
part-time working arrangement, child care facilities etc. The report cites that in the
Netherlands, part-time employment is almost a female domain with female part-time
employment rates being the highest in the European Union at 59.9% in 2008.35
However the
issue on gender disparity across EU nations exists with Adler (1986) citing a difference in the
perception towards female managers across these countries wherein ‘Most organizations had
never thought of creating policies for women development”. The belief that women could and
can make a difference at top level management was almost beyond the realms of imagination
by most businesses, a societal expression so deeply engrained that even women executives in
some countries (see Italy, Adler 1986, Pg 13) believed that the onus for this change in
perception is the responsibility of women and they need to prove themselves capable of
handling such senior positions before any form of societal change. A though process radically
different from US women executives who believe that change is needed first in form of
societal support than women themselves making a difference.
The contrast is stark across Asian and Pacific nations where this gender occupies mostly
lower level roles and position with a miniscule percent reaching the higher echelons of
management. The UNDP Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2010, states that there
seems to be wider diversity on gender rights even within sub-regions of Asia-Pacific, wherein
34
Refer Women Participation in Workforce-Trends 35
Refer ILO Women in Labour Markets Report -2011, Pg 71
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East Asia and Pacific are moving ahead but South-Asia still lags behind on parameters like
health, adult literacy and economic participation; at times even behind sub-Saharan regions.
This report gives a glimpse of the real status of women in the APAC region being an eye-
opener for political and economic strategists who seem to gloat over the rapid progress and
economic development happening across these regions without caring about inclusion of
minority groups in its purview.
Adler (1986) cites the case of developed nations like Japan wherein cultural viewpoints cloud
organizational attitude towards women representation in managerial positions with disparity
existing in their career progression, pay levels and quality of work. Japanese women
themselves believe employment to be a ‘stop-gap’ arrangement between ‘marriage’ and
‘child-birth’, striving to balance both as part of their sole responsibility. The situation does
not change much with other nations of the region like Philippines and Indonesia where strong
viewpoints towards women as nurturers and providers for the family dominate their career
progression as managers, with women seldom echoing their stand in the business domain
relegating themselves to administrative or low paying jobs like nursing and teaching trying to
walk the tight rope of work-life balance. Budhwar et al (2005) argues this in the case of India,
wherein women have been deprived of responsible roles at managerial levels due to cultural
factors and societal viewpoint; contrary to the belief of women not being capable of
managerial roles, their study summarizes strengths of Indian women managers in the context
of adaptability to situations, collaborative work style, crisis management capabilities and
sensitivity in managing work relationships making them better and capable candidates for
leadership in the new economic order of a volatile business environment.
5. Conclusions
Women have forever been understood to be the creator of ‘life’, the nurturer, the giver and
the one who anchors men in various roles as mother, sister, daughter, wife or lover/partner.
History has been witness to numerous instances of the downfall or rise of nations; centered
on the strategic decisions of powerful women albeit in some instances from behind the
curtain in shadowed forms. Through centuries, from ancient times to the modern era, women
have time and again proved their capabilities as competent leaders combining their intuitive
sense with practical knowledge for informed strategic decision making creating and
managing successful empires, governments and businesses. Still despite these glorious
achievements and progressing levels of education, women across the world have been
relegated to the status of second citizens of their respective countries bearing disparity in
professional domains by way of low level profiles, pay discrepancies and biased attitude
towards progression.
The intention of this paper was in consolidating the vast amount of literature and data
pertaining to women participation levels in the workforce while highlighting their presence at
senior management positions specifically at the boardroom level in the global context. It was
necessary that going along the path, an understanding of the need for diversity across
boardrooms and strong representation of women in line with enhancing this diversity aspect
be clearly outlined.
The paper has tried to create a portrayal of the global situation by highlighting aspects of
enhanced participation in the developed nations (mostly nations in the European and the
American continent), though stagnating and growing at a slow pace in some instances;
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against the pathetic situation existing across countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and
the Middle-east.
While countries have tried to address the lack of women representation at leadership
positions and board levels under diversity, equal employment opportunity and corporate
governance parameters; the methods, norms and policies adopted have been varied. Most
European nations, specifically the Nordic countries having strong presence of women in their
workforce; have supported board room presence of the ‘fair sex’ through stringent
legislations facing dissolution of concerned companies (publicly listed) in case of non-
compliance. Other nations, part of the European Union have modified their Corporate
Governance norms by way of encouraging women representation on boards with reasons and
explanation by concerned companies for non-compliance rather than stringent measures,
along with debating implementation of legislations for higher compliance levels. Following
them are countries like USA, Canada and Australia that have moved towards briefly
increasing women representation on their corporate boards by way of modifying corporate
governance codes and ethics. Lagging behind are the rapidly developing nations of Asia, with
lowest participation of female in management positions, more so at leadership levels. Japan is
a contradiction in this region with alarmingly low level of participation by women at senior
management and board room levels, despite being a developed nation; that only outlines the
negative co-relation between GDP and women empowerment.
Norway seems to be the only country that has vociferously supported women empowerment
in business through mandatory corporate quotas in public sector companies, but preliminary
research on its impact also seems to outline a vague picture that is more causal than factual.
Eight years in research parlance is too little a time span to collect empirical evidence co-
relating increased women participation on boards to mandatory corporate quotas and thereby
enhanced firm performances. Most countries are still trying to figure a mid-way on this path
while public companies grappling with the situation, are trying to figure how best they can
search and source talented women capable of adding decisional diversity in the boardrooms.
Empirical research in the future needs to diligently track data related to evidence suggesting
enhanced growth of institution with female presence strengthening the business case of
women related diversity in board rooms. Future research needs to also focus on the Asia-
Pacific region to understand parameters that hinder progress and participation of women in
the workforce specifically at leadership and decision making levels. The context of whether
this is culture specific or gender biased shall need further exploration. However it is
heartening to note that the trail has been blazed by Norway and it is only sometime that other
shall follow through, when and how is the question?
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Female presence in boardrooms: Review of global scenario in the context of legislative reforms in corporate
governance
Soumi Rai
ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Volume 3 Issue 1, 2012
67
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