Good news from the prestigious Cranfield School of Management. Its latest research found the percentage of women on boards has now reached 22.8% – close to the 25% target set by Lord Davies for 2015.
The report said that great progress has been made since the publication of Lord Davies’ report. They found the percentage of women on the boards of the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 had increased by 82% and 124% respectively.
While this is good news, of course, we should approach these latest figures with caution. While the last of the all-male FTSE 100 companies appointed its first woman director earlier in the year, there are still 28 from the FTSE 250 which have all male boards. In addition, the report hasn’t outlined how many of the women from the FTSE 100 and 250 are non-executive directors. Some of them will be of course and this means there input could be limited depending on how the individual company views non-executive directors. They may have a seat at the table but will they have the opportunity to voice their opinions?
Just yesterday, for example, the Independent reported that FTSE 250 miner, Petra Diamonds, finally appointed a woman to its board.
But the South African accountant and businesswoman, Octavia Matloa, will join the diamond miner as an independent non-executive director sitting on its audit committee. How much power she will have to affect change is up for debate. I hope that her seat at the table isn’t just as a result of Vince Cable’s letter to 28 FTSE 250 companies who he told to improve the diversity of their boards after it was revealed 28 companies from the FTSE 250 had no women on them.
Despite the concerns the figures from Cranfield are promising. Furthermore, the academics predict that the FTSE 100 will hit the 25% target during 2015, with the FTSE 250 following in 2016. Just 24 more women are needed in the FTSE 100 and 150 across the FTSE 250 in order to reach the target of 25%.
However, mandatory targets will be far more effective and a figure of 50% could be achieved much quicker with enforceable goals.