How the U.K.’s approach to women on boards is improving gender diversity

Ahead of International Women’s Day, we’re looking at how the U.K. is moving the needle on gender diversity in corporate boardrooms. Many countries have mandatory quotas for the minimum number of women on corporate boards. The U.K., in contrast, adopted a voluntary approach to improve gender balance in the business world. Has it worked? 

In one important sense, yes: Nearly 40% of board seats at the U.K.’s top 100 companies are now filled by women, and notable gains have also been made at the board level of the U.K.’s 350 largest companies, according to a new report. However, there are still very few women CEOs or CFOs in the U.K., and only a third of leadership roles are held by women. 

In this week’s episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we speak to Denise Wilson, Chief Executive of the FTSE Women Leaders Review, which published the report in February. Wilson describes how the decision to routinely and openly publish data naming and shaming companies that fall short of suggested gender-balance targets has acted as a nudge, persuading more businesses to appoint female board directors to meet growing investor and societal expectations on diversity.  

To read more about gender diversity at global companies: https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/featured/women-ceos-covid  

To read more about gender diversity at U.S. companies: https://www.capitaliq.spglobal.com/web/client?auth=inherit#news/article?id=65743394&KeyProductLinkType=6    

To read S&P Global Sustainable1 research on corporate diversity, equity and inclusion policies: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/csa/yearbook/articles/progress-toward-corporate-diversity-requires-more-than-ticked-boxes-and-token-hires   

To subscribe to our new newsletter, The Social Equity & Impact Review: https://spgi-mkto.spglobal.com/Subscribe-The-Social-Equity--Impact-Review.html  

We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). 

Photo credit: Getty Images