Business News Weekly Roundup: March 27 2015

In the UK, FTSE 100 firms are only (collectively) 17 female board members away from reaching a governmental end-of-year target of 25% representation, with the current figure of 23.5% standing at almost double what it was in 2011, when the target was first set (The Guardian). Some companies are doing better than others, with 59 firms still falling short of the 25% target. In the wider FTSE 250, progress is slower, with women only currently accounting for 18% of board members. 

There is more of a problem at the very top, where women only occupy 8.6% of executive roles in the FTSE 100 (the relative figure for the FTSE 250 is 4.6%) – indeed, The Guardian found that there are more men called John (or Jean) or David than women among chief executives and chairs.

To end on a positive note, business secretary Vince Cable stated that he believed that we would see female board representation reaching 33% by 2020 – considered to be a tipping point in terms of decision making.

The case brought against venture capitalist firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (backers of Amazon and Google), by HBS alumna Ellen Pao, who claims the firm paid her less than men, passed her over for promotion and fired her after she complained about a colleague’s behavior (she says she was pressured into having an affair), has been declared a ‘watershed moment’ by several high profile female executives (Bloomberg) – no matter what the verdict.

Pao is seeking US$16 million in compensation and lost wages. But, it is the precedent it could set in encouraging women to speak out, rather than any monetary figure, that is thought to really be the most significant consequence of the trial – particularly as it is thought that companies of this nature are not as often held to account in the same way as bigger corporations. 

Research by Babson College found that women accounted for 6% of venture capital partners in 2014, compared to 10% in 1999.

Update: Pao lost the case on all counts, with the jury ruling in favor of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers on March 27.