At the current rate of change, the ASX 200 is unlikely to reach a 50/50 gender split when it comes to women on boards.
That’s the short of it according to analysis by Pottinger, which has just released a new index outlining the probability of seeing women reach 50% of ASX directorships by the year 2050, based on historic trends.
As it currently stands, the Pottinger Index on ASX 200 board diversity finds that even if we wait another 36 years, we’ll have just a 12% chance of hitting the 50/50 gender diversity mark. It means we simply can’t expect to see an ‘equality day’ when it comes to the boards of our largest, listed organisations.
These findings are far from the hope many senior leaders derive from the incremental increase in women in leadership positions over recent years. According to Company Directors, women now hold 18.2% of ASX 200 board positions (as of the end of May). That’s the highest the figure has ever been in Australia and a significant increase since 2009, but it’s still not enough progress to offer much hope for gender parity on such boards during most of our lifetimes.
Still, while Pottinger joint-CEO Cassandra Kelly finds the results disappointing, she says that how the index initiative came about is encouraging. “It was the blokes who did it. They came up with the idea, the website, everything,” she told me during a video interview with Women’s Agenda to go live next week.
She’s referring to her joint CEO and co-founder Nigel Lake, and executive director Julian King, who are so passionate about also pushing the numbers when it comes to articulating the challenge ahead for gender diversity in leadership, that they wanted to personally make a contribution. For Kelly, getting men engaged in the issue is a big step in the right direction.
The aim of the index is to bring rigour and insight to measuring progress when it comes to diversity, starting with an analysis of gender diversity. It not only analyses what progress is being achieved, but also the date a potential goal will be reached.
But the chances of a 50/50 split in the next few decades are low, just 12% by 2050 according to the index. Indeed, the only way an ‘Equality Day’ becomes realistic is if you lower your expectations on equality. Pottinger gives an 81% chance of reaching 25% female directors by 2050, a 56% chance of hitting the 30% mark in that same year and a 26% chance of seeing women occupy 40% of such positions.
The problem is the rate at which women are being appointed to such boards, as well as the long tenure of those in directors roles. While women accounted for 31% of new board appointments from the beginning of 2014 to the end of May, that figure was just 22% in 2013, 22% in 2012 and 28% in 2011. As Pottinger finds, even if women were appointed to 50% of all such positions, it would still take about a decade to see an equal gender split.
The current rate of change is simply not good enough. We need figures to explain the story, as well as the probability of when and if certain achievements can be made in order to fully articulate the challenge ahead. It’s clear continuing on with business as usual will not be good enough when it comes to getting more women on boards.
See the full analysis of the results here.