Women’s representation on the boards of directors of large companies remains limited, although it increased in 2011, reaching 13.8% worldwide, mainly due to quota systems implemented in several European countries.
The study, which is conducted every two years, was presented today at one of the World Bank’s offices in Washington by the International Women’s Corporate Directors (CWDI), an organization of businesswomen dedicated to promoting gender equality in large corporations.
France and Spain have led the increase in representation since 2004, when female presence on the boards of major international companies first began to be measured, with increases of 13.9% and 7.3% over the past seven years, respectively.
Ana María Llopis, a director of Société Générale and chairwoman of DIA Group, defended the presence of women in corporate management in a conversation with Efe, because “in times of crisis, women bring special talent to decision-making, risk-taking, ethics and human resources.”
“The issue of quotas is extremely interesting: when quotas are introduced temporarily, the process accelerates. When the pace of progress is insufficient, it needs to be accelerated,” she added after the report’s presentation.
Worldwide, the United States leads the list for the percentage of women on boards of directors, at 20.8%, followed by France at 20.1%, the United Kingdom at 16.8% and Germany at 15.4%.
Spain, which had barely 1.9% in 2004, recorded 9.2% in 2011, largely thanks to the quota system required by the Spanish authorities in 2007.
According to the report, which examines the situation among the 200 largest global companies listed by Fortune magazine, this quota system produces “over the long term a pool of experienced female directors, so that gender diversity ceases to be a problem.”
China and Brazil, two of the major emerging economies, also recorded growing female representation in large companies, at 8% in the Asian giant and 8.3% in the Latin American country.
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