2015 cwdi report: women board directors in apec...
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2015 CWDI Report:
Women Board Directors in APEC Economies
Corporate Women Directors International
Washington, DC USA
Tel: +1-202-835-3713
Fax: +1-202-466-6195
Email: [email protected]
© CWDI 2015. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited.
2015 CWDI REPORT ON WOMEN BOARD DIRECTORS OF APEC ECONOMIES
KEY FINDINGS
Men dominate the boardrooms of top companies in the APEC economies. Women hold
an average of just 9.8% of board seats in 19 APEC economies (data is not available for
Brunei Darussalam and Papua New Guinea).
Among APEC economies, Canada, Australia, and the US have the highest percentages,
with Canada (20.4%) and Australia (20.1%) topping 20% women’s board representation.
Vietnam (13.9%), New Zealand (13.6%), and China (13.2%) have the next three highest
percentages.
At the bottom of the list, with women holding less than 5% of board seats are Russia
(4.8%), Chinese Taipei (4.4%), Chile (3.2%), Japan (3.1%), and Korea (2.1%).
© CWDI 2015. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited.
As a region, Asia-Pacific lags behind Europe, the U.S., and Africa, though ranks above
Latin America in placing women on boards.
Among APEC economies, Australia and Malaysia have high rates of increase in
appointing women to board seats due to proactive initiatives to accelerate women’s
access to board seats.
Malaysia is the only APEC economy with a government-driven quota or target of 30%
for women board directors of either publicly-listed or state-owned companies. Set as a
© CWDI 2015. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited.
policy by the Prime Minister’s Cabinet in 2011, Malaysian companies increased 5.6%
from 6.1% in 2009 to 11.7% in 2015.
Outside of APEC, there are now 21 economies with legislative mandates or quotas to
increase gender diversity on boards, which have succeeded in increasing the percentage
of women directors. France and Italy, both with quotas in place, have had the most
dramatic increases in the percentage of women being appointed to board seats.
How Quotas and Targets Can Work To Increase Percentage of Women Directors
The APEC economy which has had the largest increase from 2009 to the present is
Australia, which has more than doubled its percentage of women board directors from
8.3% in 2009 to 20.1% in 2015. Unlike Malaysia, Australia’s strategy was driven by the
private sector as opposed to the government. Basically, the Australian Securities
Exchange made gender diversity a listing requirement for member companies in 2010.
This entailed annual reporting on the number of women on company boards, senior
management and workforce, along with their plans for improving those numbers.
Outside of APEC, the U.K. and Finland have had the most success in implementing a
similar strategy through the use of gender diversity in their corporate governance
codes, resulting in improved percentages of women directors and proving the efficacy
of another route to women’s access to board seats.
How Private Sector Initiatives Can Work To Increase Percentage of Women Directors
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There are now 25 countries with gender or board diversity language in their corporate
governance code or stock exchange listing requirements. Among these 25, six are
APEC economies, with Australia’s being the most stringent and showing the most
progress. With language ranging from recommendation to requirement, the six include
Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, New Zealand, and Canada.
The three largest economies in the world, the U.S., China and Japan – all APEC members
– do not have any national strategy, whether from government or the business
community, to accelerate women’s access to corporate leadership. The U.S. percentage
increase in women directors has inched at a rate of less than 1% per year for the past
decade.
With No National Initiatives to Increase Percentage of Women Directors
Sources:
Australia: Australian Institute of Company Directors, www.companydirectors.co.au; Canada: 2014 Catalyst Census:
Women Board Directors, Catalyst Canada; Chile, Mexico: 2015 CWDI Report on Women Board Directors of Latin
America’s Top Companies; China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea: Diversity Matters:
Adding Colour to Boards in APAC, Korn Ferry, 2015; Malaysia: Malaysian Shareholders Watchdog Group Corporate
Governance Report, 2014; Chinese Taipei, Russia, Thailand: Women on Boards Report, Government Metrics
International, 2014; Philippines: ASEAN-5 Gender Diversity Survey, Corston-Smith, 2012; Singapore: Gender
Diversity on Boards: A Business Imperative, Diversity Task Force, 2014; US: 2014 Catalyst Census: Women Board
Directors, 2014; Vietnam: International Financial Reporting Corporation, 2015
© CWDI 2015. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited.
APPENDIX
© CWDI 2015. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited.