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Women on UK boards reach record high with Diversity Recruitment measures

19/01/2012 Women on UK boards reach record high with Diversity Recruitment...The number of women on UK boardrooms has reached an all-time high, suggesting a marked turnaround in attitudes to gender diversity at senior level.

Figures from the Professional Boards Forum reveals that last year there were 98 female appointments to the FTSE 250, the largest number than in any other year.

This now means that women represent 14.9 per cent of FTSE 100 directors, which is also a record. In 2010, women represented 12.5 per cent of FTSE 100 boards and this was only a rise from 12.2 per cent the year before.

Gradual change in gender diversity in technology jobs

But since Lord Davies published his review into women on boards last February, requiring the country's biggest companies to ensure that 25 per cent of their directors are women by 2015, there has been gradual change.

This target has actually been exceeded in 2011, although there is still some way to go to fully achieve it. Last year, women represented 27 per cent of all FTSE 100 senior appointments, suggesting an effort by businesses to play catch-up with their diversity agenda.

Indeed, if companies are not seen to make quick enough progress in their female representation, Lord Davies could then recommend imposing mandatory quotas that would insist on a certain number of women in boardrooms.

Ten FTSE 100 companies still have all-male boards.

'No shortage of talent' among senior women in IT

Elin Hurvenes, the founder of Professional Boards Forum, stressed that the past poor diversity of boardrooms is down to a lack of recognition.

"There has never been a shortage of talent, only a lack of recognition of the skills and experience that women can bring to UK boards," she explained.

"The pool of board-ready women is impressive and chairmen have definitely started to recognise this."

Recent appointments include Stacey Cartwright, finance director of Burberry, who has been made a board member at GlaxoSmithKline and Sarah Ellard, who has join the board of defence company Chemring.

Women have also been appointed to the boardrooms of Shell and HSBC.

However, many women in IT careers are keen to encourage a change in attitude of employers rather than introduce quotas.

A recent survey by womenintechnology.co.uk found that just 13 per cent of respondents said they would like mandatory quotas to be introduced, while 15 per cent were in favour of softer targets for businesses.

A global issue with diversity recruitment

Progress on the issue is also being made elsewhere. Figures from the Australian Institute of Company Directors show that a record 65 women joined the boards of its ASX200 companies last year, now making up 13.5 per cent of senior board positions.

This is a marked increase from the 8.4 per cent figure recorded in 2010.

However, writing for the Financial Times, Tony Barber suggested that with the exception of Finland, Sweden and Norway, which did successfully introduce quotas, the scarcity of women on boards is a "Europe-wide problem".

Most notably, he remarked that Germany has the poorest show of gender diversity at senior level.

Certainly in the UK there is still some way to go before women can firmly say they have cracked the glass ceiling.


Interested in hiring more female technologists into your organisation? Get in touch with womenintechnology's recruitment services team.
 
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