Directors oppose gender quotas to increase the number of women on boards in Ireland
Date: 23 May 2011- Two-thirds of Irish directors are not in favour of a formal quota system to increase the number of women on boards
- 1 in 3 female directors is in favour of gender quotas as a temporary requirement
- 8 in 10 directors believe their board has an appropriate mix of skills
- Majority of directors of multinationals and Plcs do not consider their boards to be gender diverse
- Almost half of directors admit their board does not have a skills framework in place for board appointments
Gender quotas
Recent independent research* conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes on behalf of the Institute of Directors in Ireland (IoD) among its members, has found that two-thirds (66%) of directors surveyed are not in favour of the introduction of a formal quota system to increase the number of women on boards in Ireland.
However, 6 in 10 (60%) female directors are in favour of a formal gender quota system, with 1 in 3 (36%) of them favouring it as a temporary requirement and 1 in 4 (24%) women favouring it as a permanent requirement. Almost 3 in 4 (72%) men are against the introduction of formal gender quotas.
Board diversity
When asked whether the board on which they sit is diverse in terms of skills, 8 in 10 (84%) directors said there is an appropriate mix of skills among board members. This figure is higher in the financial services sector with 9 in 10 (91%) directors in that industry confident that their board is diverse with regard to skills.
Half (50%) of directors surveyed believe that their board is sufficiently diverse in terms of gender, with women more likely to consider the boards on which they sit to be gender diverse (59%). Three in 5 (60%) directors in financial services companies consider their boards to be gender diverse, with this figure slightly higher (63%) among State bodies.
In addition, 7 in 10 (71%) directors surveyed believe their board is diverse in terms of the age profile of its members, yet just 2 in 5 (39%) consider their board to have a sufficient mix of nationalities.
The majority of directors on the boards of multinationals (63%) and Plcs (59%) do not consider their boards to be sufficiently gender diverse. With regard to Plcs this is not surprising, given that the recent Grant Thornton Corporate Governance Review, which examined board composition, found that just 8% of senior positions in Irish listed companies are held by women and 43% of companies have no female representation at all.**
Skills framework
When asked whether their board uses a skills framework when appointing people to the board, there is an almost even division between the number of companies with (45%) and without (46%) a skills framework which is used in respect of board appointments.
Over half (56%) of directors in the financial services industry claim that their board has a skills framework in place, however 45% of directors in State boards admit that there is no such framework in place for their board.
Corporate governance regulation
When asked whether the move towards greater regulation in the area of corporate governance would impact upon their decision to accept non-executive directorships, 2 in 5 (38%) directors surveyed said they would be more reluctant to accept non-executive directorships, however 3 in 5 (62%) claim that increased regulation would not make them any more reluctant.
Commenting on the results, Maura Quinn, Chief Executive of the Institute of Directors in Ireland said: “The IoD believes that the gender issue should only form part of a wider discussion on board diversity and I am glad to see that the majority of directors recognise that the introduction of a formal quota system is not necessarily the right way to achieve that diversity. Yes, we need more female directors, but we should be looking at gender in the broader context of board diversity which encompasses the skills mix, age profile and nationality of board members.
“The nominations committee has a key role to play in developing a skills matrix which should be used by the board to ensure that any directors appointed bring sufficient balance and diversity to the board. A mix of skills, expertise, nationalities and gender in the boardroom, brings a range of perspectives to the decision-making process and avoids the group-think mentality which has been common in many boards in recent years.”
*Research was carried out online by Behaviour & Attitudes with a sample of 303/221 IoD Ireland members. Fieldwork was completed between 23rd March – 1st April 2011.
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