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NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 00:01
The share of female supervisory directors and directors remained virtually the same last year. This is evident from the latest edition of the Female Board Index, which is published annually. The report includes figures on the number of women at the top of Dutch listed companies and organisations.
The number of female directors at listed companies remained at around 15 percent. “That is still far from a balanced distribution,” the report notes. The number of female supervisory directors barely grew in one year: from 38 percent in 2022 to 39 percent this year.
The annual index comes from Mijntje Lückerath, professor of corporate governance at the TIAS School for Business and Society. She is generally positive about the proportion of female supervisory directors in the Netherlands, but notes that the number of female directors falls short of the statutory target of 30 percent.
‘get stuck’
“We no longer have to worry about the proportion of female supervisory directors, that is going quite well,” concludes Lückerath. “But we have been standing still for two years with the directors, we really got stuck there”. She calls that a setback, especially since there seem to be relatively fewer female directors.
Until 2021, the percentage of female directors increased slowly but surely. For example, in 2020, 28 percent of new directors were women. But last year this dropped to 13 percent: of the 30 new board members, four were women. While the influx of new female directors is actually necessary to make progress across the board, says Lückerath.
Difference between supervisory director and director
Listed companies have an executive board and a supervisory board. The members of the board of directors are responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. The general director and the financial director, among others, are members of this council. The supervisory directors supervise the directors.
Until 2020, a target of 30 percent women on both supervisory and executive boards applied. Because this was a target number, there was no consequence for not achieving that percentage. It has now been established by law that at least one-third of supervisory boards must consist of women.
“The quota for women on supervisory boards may not have been really necessary,” Professor Lückerath reflects. “When that came into effect, we were already almost at 33 percent. But it was also really intended as symbolic legislation, to show companies that something needs to be done about the proportions.”
In addition, according to the professor, it was reasoned that if there were more female supervisory directors, there would also be more female directors. But that doesn’t work out. “The proportion of female directors remains stagnant.” But because there is no quota for female directors, enforcement is not an issue.
‘Attention slackens’
Lückerath argues that it is important that attention continues to be paid to the number of women in administrative bodies. “It seems that this attention is waning and it is no longer a priority, but we are not there yet,” emphasizes the professor. “What needs to happen is that companies should be ashamed of having an all-male board of directors.”
According to the Female Board Index, 61 of the 88 listed companies currently have no women on their boards. Lückerath calls that “out of date”. She thinks that actively addressing companies makes more sense than setting a legal quota for female directors.
Lückerath calls an excuse that companies cannot find suitable women. “There are now 20 listed companies in which at least 33 percent of the supervisory directors and 33 percent of the board are women.” At the top of that list is publisher Wolters Kluwer. At Ingenieursbureau Arcadis and real estate investment company NSI, both councils are equally divided. “You should put such companies on stage much more often and let them tell you about the value of diversity.”
European level
There is also a quota on the European level. Last year, member states agreed that European listed companies must ensure that 40 percent of their board members are women. In countries where companies do not have separate supervisory boards and management boards, a third of both their supervisory directors and management board members are women.
The negotiations in Brussels lasted more than ten years. The Netherlands, among others, was at odds with this. The European quota must come into force before the summer of 2026.
2023-08-31 22:01:25
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