Women on Boards has just published their biennial board gender data. Interesting to see the continuing pattern of better gender representation at the biggest of the ASX companies, with 24.1% representation for the top 50 companies, 23.5% for the top 100, 19.9% for the top 200 and 18.1% for the top 300. The numbers represent an increase of 5% over 2013’s figures.
In their analysis, 45 of top 300 companies have a minimum of 30% female directorship. See their full report. It’s good to see some forward movement towards gender balanced leadership.
As an increasing number of studies show, there is a diversity dividend that accompanies companies that have gender balanced leadership. McKinsey’s report Why Diversity Matters released in January 2015, presents data confirming that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to financially outperform national industry medians. In their analysis, for every 10 percent increase in gender diversity in UK executive teams , EBIT rose by 3.5 percent.
The report concluded that diversity provides a competitive advantage, shifting market share to more diverse companies.
