{"id":1070,"date":"2016-09-12T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/annelitwin.com\/?p=1070"},"modified":"2016-09-12T08:00:10","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T12:00:10","slug":"three-tips-for-how-to-get-more-women-on-corporate-boards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annelitwin.com\/blog\/blog-posts\/three-tips-for-how-to-get-more-women-on-corporate-boards\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Tips for How to Get More Women on Corporate Boards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe United Kingdom and Australia have significantly increased the number of women on corporate boards in recent years, while representation in the United States has stalled. Nneka Orji of The Glasshammer<\/a> reports that female representation in the United Kingdom\u2019s FTSE 100 company boardrooms increased from 12.5 percent in 2011 to 26 percent in 2016. Similarly, Alexandra Spring writes in the Guardian<\/em><\/a> that 26 percent of the director positions in Australia\u2019s ASX 200 companies are now held by women, with a target of 30 percent by 2018.\nIn contrast, Linda Colby of Bloomberg News reports that only 19.9 percent of board seats in S&P 500 companies were held by women in 2015, up from 19.2 percent in 2014. At this rate, Colby notes, it will take more than forty years for women in the United States to reach 30 percent representation on corporate boards.\nHow have the United Kingdom and Australia made so much progress? In the United Kingdom, the Davies Review<\/a><\/em> found that setting a clear five-year target in 2011 of achieving 25 percent representation by women, along with a public commitment from senior leaders to proactively address unconscious bias and other obstacles for women, resulted in the increase. In Australia, research from 2005\u20132011 found that companies with more women on boards showed higher financial performance. This research led to a 2011 report that called for organizations to set numeric targets and report on them. Australia\u2019s implementation of these recommendations also increased the representation of women on corporate boards to 26 percent in 2016.\nWhy does it matter that more women be on boards? A 2016 study by EY and the Peterson Institute of International Economics<\/a> showed that \u201ccompanies with at least 30 percent women in leadership may boost profit margins by 15 percent.\u201d In addition, an earlier study by the index provider MCSI<\/a> found that companies with more women \u201cdelivered 35 percent better ROI since 2010 than those groups lacking board diversity.\u201d\nIt just makes business sense to have more women on boards\u2014but talk won\u2019t get us there. Here are three important components of what worked in the United Kingdom and Australia:\n\n\n