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Corporations demand more women in the boardroom
Fewer than 10% of the world’s top 300 companies’ board members and directors are women, according to a recent study conducted by Ricol Lasteyrie and Associates. What’s even more alarming is that very few European companies have female Chairs or CEOs. According to The European Professional Women’s Network, a few of these companies are Publicis Groupe SA (France), Banesto (Spain), Skandinaviska Erskilda Banken (Sweden), and Pearson (UK). The good news is that governments are making an effort to raise the bar on equality. Norway, for example, now requires the country’s boardrooms to be comprised of at least 40% women.
Data continues to reinforce the fact that women are consistently paid less than men. According to the latest QS TopMBA.com Applicants Survey, women with the MBA qualification expect to be paid, on average, 30% less than men. What’s interesting is that research shows women to be just as ambitious as men. 10-year goals hardly differ between the men and women surveyed. In fact, 24% of women compared to 23% of men aim to be a director of a corporate or public company within 10 years of completing their MBA. Women expect to earn less yet aim for the same achievement as men. This definitely suggests women believe workplace discrimination and the ‘glass ceiling’ are firmly ingrained in the business world.
Digging deeper the QS TopMBA.com Applicants Survey shows that actually women are not really paid less but they rather opt to specialize in lower-paying sectors like Marketing, or work fewer hours than men. In fact, a much greater proportion of women with MBAs aim to work in traditionally lower paying fields. 19% of women compared to only 9% of men aim to work in the Retail, Consumer Products and Media sector, and only 5% of women intend to work in the Industry & Engineering field, compared to 12% of men. Furthermore, deeply ingrained perceptions about women’s career aspirations result in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
A recent conference on the topic of diversity in the workplace showed that corporations are truly fighting to attract more women. And better and brighter support and encouragement are being put in place. Events like QS Women in Leadership, which visits a variety of European cities every year, are a good place to start. In addition to life-coaching sessions, pre-selected candidates will get the opportunity to meet with recruiters of top companies like Xerox, GE, Shell, and more. Getting to the boardroom starts somewhere, and that somewhere could be more accessible than you think.
