DIVERSITY
Turning up the heat
L
ast October’s closing report of the Davies Review celebrated female representation on the boards of the UK’s largest companies reaching, and slightly exceeding, its 25 per
cent target. Yet highlighting how fragile this success was, and perhaps how
little has changed, new research from a cross-university team, which was launched alongside the UK government’s latest review, shows that, for the first six months of this year, just 24.7 per cent of new FTSE 100 board appointments were filled by women. In October, the figure was 26.1 per cent. “The focus on boards must be preserved, as the pace of change has
not kept up after the Davies closing report,” said Susan Vinnicombe CBE, professor at Cranfield University and co-author of the Female FTSE Board Report 2016, commenting on the finding.
A new review Launched in July, the UK government’s new independent panel supporting women in senior leadership roles is therefore timely. The Hampton-Alexander review, led by Sir Philip Hampton,
chair of global pharmaceutical firm GSK, with Dame Helen Alexander, chair of global events company UBM, as deputy chair, is tasked with ensuring 33 per cent female representation on FTSE 350 company boards by 2020. Its aim is to widen the focus of improving female representation
in senior roles to FTSE 350 companies – both FTSE 100 and FTSE 250-listed ones.
The gap widens According to the latest available data from BoardWatch, which tracks the appointment of women directors to FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies, women occupy 22.2 per cent of directorships across the FTSE 350.
on gender diversity
Senior-level gender diversity in the world’s largest economies is stagnating, according to a raft of international studies and reviews released in the past few months. Yet there opportunities for continued progress if lessons are shared across borders, writes Ruth Holmes.
While that statistic looks promising, the Female FTSE Board
Report 2016, published by Cranfield, City and Queen Mary London universities to coincide with the new review’s launch, highlighted the stark fact that, for UK businesses to achieve the 33 per cent goal, companies needed both a constant turnover of board directors and a one-in-three appointment rate for women. Turnover rates have fallen in recent months. With the
appointment rate for new female FTSE 100 appointments also dropping and the appointment rate for women falling below the one in three required, again the gap is widening. ➲
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