Since Canada-wide standards promoting gender diversity in business were first adopted eight years ago, the S&P/TSX Composite Index has risen by 40% – enriching executives and shareholders alike.
But women in business haven’t fared so well.
A recent “year eight” report from Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) says 30% of major publicly traded companies still don’t have any women in “executive officer” positions. And just 5% have women CEOs, a slight increase since 2018 when 4% did.
Businesses fare better when it comes to board representation. Some 24% of corporate board seats are occupied by women, more than double their 11% share in 2015. Better still, companies filling board vacancies in the past year chose women 45% of the time, suggesting the ultimate goal of 50–50 representation may yet be achievable.
But board appointments can be window dressing. The hard job is making sure that women are encouraged to occupy management and executive positions, and are supported as they rise through the ranks. As the CSA reports, so far just 4% of issuing companies have adopted targets for gender diversity at the executive level.
Of course, inequity is a global phenomenon. In the U.K., a recent report from global consulting firm EY and Cranfield University identified an “appalling” shortfall of women in executive roles at companies on the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index. While women now occupy nearly 40% of the board seats on FTSE 100 companies, 91% of women directors hold non-executive positions.
In a press release, EY said these results indicate many U.K. companies are appointing women to their boards not for reasons of merit, but to meet a quota. “Just having women in [non-executive director] roles is not sufficient to have an impact on the executive pipeline,” added report author Sue Vinnicombe, a professor of women and leadership at Cranfield School of Management.
But companies that don’t prioritize representation only hurt themselves. With COVID-19, sustainability, globalization and talent management all emerging as strategic challenges, business success requires new ways of thinking.
Improbably, a new study supporting this contention was just published by Arab Petroleum Investments Corp., an energy-financing institution founded by 10 Arab oil-exporting countries. Examining 15 studies from around the world, the report found that women investors and policy-makers are twice as likely to consider ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) investing when compared to men.
Further, the report also found that having more women in conservation and natural resource management led to “stricter and more sustainable extraction rules, greater compliance, more transparency and accountability, and better conflict resolution.”
Patriarchy comes at a cost. The report found that in the Middle East and North Africa alone, more than US$575 billion is lost annually “due to legal and social barriers that exist for women’s access to jobs.
