Whats Keeping More Women From Being On Boards

Whats Keeping More Women From Being On Boards Whats keeping mora women from being on hauptplatines? Tenure, among other things. Just 17% of Fortune 500 board seats are held by women, according to 2013 research from Catalyst. And yet, further research from Catalyst has shown that companies with more women directors perform better financially on several dimensions- Return on Equity On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 53 percent.- Return on Sales On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 42 percent.- Return on Invested Capital On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 66 percent.Even though causation is difficult to prove, many other studies echo this correlation between higher numbers of women on boards and and improved financial returns. For example, there is research s howing diversity help improve decision-making outcomes within groups. So whats really holding back the appointment of more female directors? There are many factors that cause the deficit of women on corporate boards, including a preference for hiring highly experienced CEOs and CFOs, who are by simply virtue of the status quo, more often men. Some have also argued that womens personal choices and discrimination (both overt and unconscious) play a role.There is another important factor at play that prevents even the increasing numbers of women with appropriate credentials from taking positions on corporate boards tenure. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, At S In other words, low turnover means few board seats become available -- making it difficult to change board composition to include women and minorities.If more activist shareholders took an interest in reducing term limits for board members, the growth in board diversity could potentially accelerate. But w ill an increased focus on term limits necessarily lead to more diverse boards? Just last week, for example, when activist shareholders proposed wiping out the Yahoo board and replacing all of their directors, just two of nine proposed directors were women -- compared to four of nine on the previous board.One commonly discussed solution to the paucity of women on boards is some sort of quota system. For example, several European countries have experimented with quotas or other public pressure tactics to increase female board representation. However, the efficacy of these tactics has been questioned. One study based on Norways quota system requiring that women comprise 40% of public company boards found that the benefits of the new law did not trickle down to result in more female managers at those firms or benefit similarly qualified women who were not appointed to boards. Nor did women seem to pursue geschftsleben careers at any higher frequency as a result. Moreover, many women (an d men) recoil at the notion of a quota because it risks tokenism and for fear of cementing unfair stereotypes and biases that women need help and are less-than-equally qualified for the roles.It seems then that there are no silver bullets. When it comes to how to improve the number of women on boards, the problem not only needs to be prioritized, but also needs to be solved via multiple avenues -- board tenure is only one of them.Fairygodboss is committed to improving the workplace and lives of women. Join us by reviewing your employer