Financial Times – Doubts raised over whether gender parity in companies will ever be reached

Almost three-quarters of new board appointments are still going to men, Egon Zehnder's 2018 Global Board Diversity Tracker finds.

In new research, Egon Zehnder examined board and senior executive roles at 1,610 public companies worth €7 billion or more in 44 countries. The findings indicate that just over 1/5 of board seats were held by women, a 2% increase over 2016, but more than seven in every 10 new appointments were still going to men.

“We need diversity, but it’s simply not happening fast enough,” said Egon Zehnder’s Chairwoman Jill Ader. “With the rate of progress towards parity decelerating, fully balanced boards will never be achieved without a significant increase in the hiring of female directors.” Companies need to recognize the impact that a “critical mass” of three or more women on the board and the executive committee make, and take steps to bring that about. In Egon Zehnder’s 2018 Global Board Diversity Tracker, in only 13 of the 44 countries studied did the largest companies average three or more women per board. In all of these, with the exception of Sweden, some form of quota system was in place.
 

Full Story: Men are still winning three-quarters of new boardroom jobs. By Sarah Gordon. 11, December 2018. Jill Ader, Egon Zehnder, London