Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Women on boards

3 min read

After a decade of democracy, supported by a liberal constitution that outlaws discrimination, it is useful to contemplate the question: ‘How have women fared in terms of their representation on boards?” To understand this question fully, Memela Pratt & Associates explored the following areas:

  • Do women bring something different to boards?

  • What specific challenges do women have on boards?

  • Are boards that have embraced diversity more effective?

  • What strategies should women adopt to improve their representation on boards?

  • What strategies should companies adopt to improve the representation of women on boards?

    • The research concluded that:

    • Both men and women perceive good corporate governance as the key challenge facing boards. It is a minority that sees this as a paradox where conformance has to be managed simultaneously with performance issues. This is probably as a result of the many recent spectacular corporate failures both locally and internationally. This unhealthy focus on issues of compliance is aggravated by the fact that the few who have been subject to an induction programme have received little training beyond an introduction to King II and their fiduciary duties as directors. The majority understand the need to meet and balance the requirements of performance and conformance criteria.

  • Both men and women perceive that women bring the qualities of diversity of points of view, sensitivity, concern for human issues and greater attention to detail to boards. While not all are convinced that gender-diverse boards are more effective, the majority agree that considering issues from a different perspective is helpful and adds value to the quality of decision-making at board level. All parties agree that tokenism is the enemy of board effectiveness, although there are instances where it is still alive and practised. This practice negates but does not support gender transformation in the medium and longer term.

  • Men, in general, are not comfortable with the gender balance on boards and believe that investors should push for better representation. Yet, what are companies consciously doing to increase the talent pool of women who may be potential candidates for these board appointments?

  • In contrast, some women are content with the gender representation while others believe that the availability of suitably qualified candidates is a problem. This poses the question: are women who currently sit on boards doing to support the development of other women to increase the talent pool and to encourage gender representation at board level? What are women doing to market themselves in the broader business community?

  • Creditability and being taken seriously by their male counter-parts are the main issues faced by women on boards. Not being part of the ‘old boys club” is also a challenge. This is true for both women and black South Africans at board level. It is a subtle process, which makes it more difficult to deal with. It is time the traditional protocols and unspoken rules are broken down openly and consciously. This will create and encourage a more functional board environment both practically and psychologically, and this in turn will pave the way for greater board effectiveness and performance.

    • Source: An edited extract of Memela Pratt &Associates 2005 survey called ‘Women on board – an examination of the leadership role of women in the South African corporate sector”