Patricia Hewitt has said that ‘diversity is still not part of the plan’ for British businesses despite official statistics which show a significant growth in the number of female board appointments.
The number of companies in the FTSE 100 with all male boards has remained relatively static (31 in 2004, 32 in 2003).
The news is somewhat better on closer examination of other findings with the total number of women directors up from 88 to 96 while the proportion of new director appointments going to women equates to 17% up from 13% last year.
Mixed boards came out better than male-dominated ones in terms of corporate governance.
Dr Val Singh, co-author of the Female FTSE Report said: “Corporate Governance is about putting in place the right board structures and processes to improve board effectiveness. For example, a diverse board can generate a richness and quality of ideas that is lacking in an all male board firmly locked into the same mindset. The result is often a better managed company, making more informed decisions, with a greater understanding of the needs of its customers and workforce”.
Centrica, with three women directors, and J. Sainsbury with two, share the number one ranking of FTSE 100 companies with the highest percentage of women on the board. In both companies women comprise a third of their directors.
The Cranfield School of Management conducted the research.
