Despite all the laws, covenants and fine words, the share of women at the absolute top of listed companies is still small. This is evident from an inventory by NU.nl of the fifty CEOs of the largest and medium-sized listed companies.
Of the fifty AEX and Midkap companies, 47 have a man at the helm. In addition, a man and a woman share the top position at one company. At two companies, PostNL and Wolters Kluwer, a woman is in charge.
“Ideally there are more female CEOs,” says a spokesperson for employers’ association VNO-NCW. “These kinds of developments are slow and it is clear that we are not there yet. There must be more.”
There are regular calls for a quota for the number of women in the highest management level of companies. It’s not that far yet. “That would be good, but there is no support for it,” says Chantal Remery of Utrecht University, who researched it.
There are ‘softer’ agreements for boards of directors
However, since the beginning of last year there has been a so-called in-growth quota for supervisory boards. This means that if a Commissioner leaves, she must be succeeded by a woman. This continues until the minimum of one third is reached.
According to some, a quota for the supervisory board can also ensure more women on the board of directors. Remery doubts this and points to Norway, where a supervisory board quota has no effect on the number of female directors.
“For a growth in the number of CEOs in listed companies, it is important that the inflow and advancement of women to the sub-top and top is also good,” says a spokesperson for the Social and Economic Council (SER).
For boards of directors, the day-to-day management of which a CEO is a part, ‘softer’ agreements have been made for the time being. This means that companies must set targets for the number of women in senior positions. They must also develop policies to achieve those goals.
Five thousand companies will make a start on this this year, the SER has announced. “The results of this will be visible in the diversity portal. That will be launched soon,” reports the SER, which is implementing it.
Two are called Peter, two are called Joost
A closer look at the fifty high-ranking directors of the AEX and Midkap companies shows that a narrow majority (27) have Dutch nationality. Furthermore, it is a colorful collection of nationalities, with the French winning.
Of the three women in the top positions, one is Dutch: Herna Verhagen of PostNL.
Where in the past quite a few top executives of Dutch companies were called Peter, that is no longer the case. Of these, there are only two left. The same goes for Josh.
The AEX includes the 25 listed companies with the largest market value. The Midkap or AMX contains 25 companies that fall just below that.
