The percentage of female directors on large European company boards has more than doubled over the past decade, with UK companies performing above average to reach the top five globally, although only 2.6% of board chairs are held by women, according to research by executive search specialists Egon Zehnder
The UK average was 22.6%, almost double the percentage identified in the 2006 and 2008 surveys, which puts it in the top five countries worldwide with the highest percentage of women on large company boards. Lord Davies' review of the issue in 2011 recommended a goal of 25% of seats filled by women by 2015.
However, the Davies goal is still being missed by the FTSE 100. The 2014 Cranfield Female FTSE board report shows the number of women on the boards of FTSE 100 companies had risen to 20.7% (from 17.3% in 2013 and 12.5% in 2011). Female representation on FTSE 250 boards is now 15.6%, up from 13.3% in 2013. However, they still need to recruit 48 more women members to achieve the 25% goal.
The Egon Zehnder research found that the UK is now one of only eight countries where at least one woman serves on the board of all the companies studied. There are also significantly more women in executive roles in UK companies (8.9%) compared with the European average (5.4%).
With 20.3% women, European boards have nearly doubled the average female representation of boards studied outside of Europe (11.6%). They are now in line with those in traditionally high-ranking countries like the US (21.2%) and Australia (22.6%).
The five countries with the highest percentage of women on large company boards are all European and include two non-Nordic countries for the first time: the U.K. (22.6% - a tie with Australia) and France (28.5%).
Gender diversity: world's highest ranking countries
| Norway | Finland | France | Sweden | UK |
| 38.9% | 32.1% | 28.5% | 27.5% | 22.6% |
European versus non-European leaders and average
| European average | Non Europe average | Australia | US |
| 20.3% | 11.6% | 22.6% | 21.2% |
‘We've seen significant progress in the diversity of European company boards since 2004, but 20 percent female representation should be the start and not the end goal,’ said Edwin Smelt, co-leader of Egon Zehnder's global diversity and inclusion council.
‘Plenty of work remains in identifying a wider pool of female board candidates as well as retaining executive-level women and assuring their advancement within organizations so there is ample readiness to pivot to the boardroom.’
While some sectors are reporting improvements, there are sharp differences across industry sectors in Europe.
Tobacco (28.6%) and renewable energy companies (27.3%) had the highest level of female directors, while steel and metals (10.3%) and mining (14%) reported the lowest. The study shows progress, however, with transport moving from one of the lowest-ranking sectors on gender diversity to one of the highest in 2014 (23%).
Outside Europe, board diversity is still in single digits in many of the largest companies, with many BRIC countries reporting low representation, including in India (8.8%), China (9.2%) and Russia (5.6%). However, one of the worst countries for board diversity was Japan, where men accounted for 96.7% of board members.
European boards have also progressed in other aspects of diversity - nearly one-third of directors (32.3%) on large European company boards are non-nationals, representing a significant change from 2006 when just 22.7% were non-nationals.
The 2014 Egon Zehnder European Board Diversity Analysis looked at more than 350 companies with market capitalisations in excess of €4bn (£3.15bn) across 17 European countries. It found that 20.3% of directors on large European company boards are women, up from 15.6% at the last survey two years ago and significantly more than the 8% recorded in 2004.
The report is available here
