It was an issue making significant progress in recent years, and numerous studies pointed to better performance companies experienced with diverse boards. And then COVID hit …
Now, opportunities for women on corporate and non-profit boards is decreasing and the latest casualty of the COVID crisis and it may take new government regulations to forward progress to achieve true board diversity, according to a new survey.
The independent WomenExecs on Boards (WEoB) is a global network of women who completed board governance programs at Harvard Business School and whose mission is to position qualified members to serve on boards through networking, peer support and education.
It shed light on the state of women’s participation both on boards and the overall workforce since COVID, including challenges faced in adapting to a hybrid and uncertain working model.
Key survey findings include:
- 60% say lack of support regarding flexible work/hour schedules is among biggest challenges they face
- 73% cited lack of resources or access for paid childcare or dependent care as the biggest challenge as women reverted to being the primary care giver and responsible for ‘home schooling’ during the pandemic
- 41% point to lack of time due to child-care and family demands heightened during the pandemic as a major cause for degradation of board seats and other opportunities
- Majority of respondents agree that the process of securing a corporate board seat has changed during the pandemic and the process is now more challenging
- While the majority (51%) agree that companies/organizations are focused on ways to improve the opportunities for their female workforce during the covid pandemic, more than one third are not sure that opportunities have been improved or communicated effectively
- While 38% believe that companies/organizations are focused on ways to improve opportunities for their female workforce when they return to the office, the majority remain unsure that opportunities will improve
- Almost half of respondents agree that technology needs to be in place to ensure that “not in the room’ workers are included in meetings, promotion opportunities and assignments
- Respondents are almost evenly split as to when they think they’ll return to the office with 35% estimating Q1, 2022 and 33% Q2, 2022
“42% of our member respondents believe that the boards on which they serve are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) so that is a sign that progress is being made,” Patricia Christian, WEoB Co-President, said in a statement. “That said, there is still a lot to be done and we continue our mission to place members and illustrate, by example, how more diverse boards lead to better results and shareholder value.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
