Ireland now has the fifth best representation of women on the boards of listed companies in the EU, a marked improvement on 16th in 2018, according to a new report.
The biggest listed Irish companies have now exceeded the 40 per cent threshold set out by the EU’s Gender Balance on Corporate Boards Directive, the eight annual report by Balance for Better Business (B4BB) found.
Female representation on listed boards has improved by 24 percentage points to reach 42 per cent in the Iseq20 since 2018.
However, while Irish companies exceeded the EU average for female executives on these companies last year, that average is low – at just 23.7 per cent – and domestic companies are just 2.7 points ahead.
RM Block
There is still significant room for progress in private boards, just 26 per cent of these roles were held by women despite making a “major step forward” in a five point improvement over the past 12 months.
Women made up just 31 per cent of senior leadership roles across all private companies, despite a 3 per cent improvement. Larger, multinational companies saw marginally better representation at 32 per cent after a 2 per cent jump.
All male leadership teams remain prevalent, accounting for 23 per cent of multinational companies, 21 per cent of privately held companies, and 16 per cent of ISEQ20.
`Gain a competitive edge’
Established by the government in July 2018, Balance for Better Business is an independent, business-led review group.
Having primarily focused on improving representation of women across the 20 largest Dublin-listed companies, the group said it was turning its attention to progressing representation in privately held companies.
Co-chair of the group Bernard Byrne said that companies which have a balanced leadership “gain a competitive edge”.
“Almost all industries can benefit from a broader set of diverse thinking,” he said. “Almost no organisation could say its customer base is not gender-mixed.”
However, progress is “uneven” across industries, co-chair Carol Andrews said. She said that “Irish businesses are making real strides on gender balance” but noted that despite the progress being “worth commending”, the “pace across the wider business landscape is still uneven”.
Mr Byrne said there was a need for “sector-specific strategies” to drive balance, noting that sectors face different issues in achieving parity.
While the legal and financial industries have made strong progress, other sectors such as construction have been “harder”.
He noted that there are “no quick fixes” to address gender imbalances and that a systemic approach with a focus on succession planning and talent development with gender-based targets is needed.
