New data has revealed that there are currently no all-male boards across FTSE companies. The number of women on the boards of the top UK companies has risen by 50% over the last five years. However, analysts highlight the importance of cautious optimism as the pandemic is causing a threat to the positive outcomes we achieved in other areas of women’s equality.
As of 16th February, research by the 30% Club has shown that there is at least one woman on every company board among the companies listed in the United Kingdom. Women hold 34 per cent of the total board seats across these firms.
Continuing to Work Toward Gender Diversity
Ann Cairns, global chair of the 30% Club, has expressed her contentment on this matter. However, she warns that businesses and organisations still need to make considerable progress and should continue to positively work and maintain gender diversity.
Ann Cairns also called attention to the need for more efforts to tackle female underrepresentation on individual boards and to boost the number of female chairs. Across the FTSE companies, there are only 41 female chairs, 50 female CFOs and 17 female CEOs. Additionally, women of colour hold 3 per cent of board positions.
A report from the Parker Review shows that there were 178 directors of colour across the FTSE companies, making up only 7.5 per cent of positions where the ethnicity of the director is known.
Sir John Parker, chair of the review, stresses the negative impact that failure to act on diversity can make on businesses and organisations. Research conducted by CIPD revealed that 24 per cent of employers were not investing time and effort to attract and recruit a more diverse range of candidates for higher roles.
The overall progress on the number of women on the boards of top UK-listed companies over the last five years is considerable. Since 2015, the number of women on boards had risen from 682 to 1,026. At Aspiring to Include, we are passionate about showing businesses the value of diversity for everybody. By creating an environment of collaboration, honesty, and open communication, we believe that all employers can take steps to continue to promote diversity in the workplace, especially for women and BAME people. For further information, you can visit our page on why your company should hire more female employees.
