 Building the Future or Stuck in the Past?
In a troubling trend, women continue to lose ground in the executive suites of Massachusetts’ 100 largest public companies, as described in “Building for the Future or Stuck in the Past? The 2009 Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companies”. The research finds that women continue to hold a very small percentage of corporate leadership positions in Massachusetts. To read or download the complete report, click here.
Planning for Tomorrow's Boardroom: Making Room for More Women
In its annual status report of women directors and executive officers of public companies in 12 major US regions, ION (InterOrganization Network, a national alliance of women’s organizations, including The Boston Club) says that women have made the smallest gains in joining public corporate boards since the group began reporting on the issue in 2004. In addition, women executives are moving up the corporate ladder at a snail’s pace – in 1228 of the companies looked at for this purpose, 70 percent had no women among their top compensated executives. The regions studied include: California, Chicago, Florida, Georgia. Kansas/Missouri, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, New York, Philadelphia and Wisconsin. To read or download the complete report, click here.
Succession Planning and Diversity: A Winning Combination in Troubled Times
The 2008 Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companies
The number of women directors and executive officers in Massachusetts’s largest public companies fell dramatically in 2008. In addition, the number of companies with no women in their boardroom or executive suites increased significantly, while the number and percentage of women executive officers and the percentage of companies with a woman among their most highly compensated
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officers fell to the lowest rate since The Boston Club began tracking the data in 2003.
The change in composition of the 100 largest companies headquartered in Massachusetts has contributed to the low numbers. Since 2005, 26 companies dropped from the list because of merger or acquisition, decline in revenue, or relocation – eleven of them in this year alone. Since last year, there has been a net loss of eight women directors, 17 women executive officers and six top compensated women. Because the number of women holding leadership positions is small, any loss in absolute numbers has an exponential impact on the percentages.
The Boston Club suggests another reason for the low numbers of women in leadership positions is absence of thoughtful succession planning by the boards of companies on the list. An analysis of the age and tenure of the directors of the Census companies shows that 19 companies had 26 independent directors over the age of 75, and at least 40 percent of the independent directors on nine boards had served for over 15 years, some for as long as 30 years. According to The Boston Club, the slow pace of board turnover limits a company’s ability to appoint directors who have diversity of background, experience, skills and perspective to address the challenges of a global economy.
JoAnn Cavallaro, Chair of The Boston Club’s Corporate Board Committee, notes, “Research shows that there is a correlation between gender diversity on boards of directors and among corporate executives and improved financial performance. We will step up our efforts to make that case to corporate leaders and executive search firms and to others that influence board decisions. Women can and do make important contributions to the strategic growth of the companies they serve. In these challenging economic times, now more than ever, corporate leaders must avail themselves of the best and brightest counsel available and that means appointing more qualified women. This is not just a socially or morally right thing to do. It is good business and it is good corporate governance.”
It’s Time to Take Charge
A Status Report on Women Directors and Executive Officers in Ten Regions of the United States
The data collected by the ten members of ION in 2007 paint a disheartening picture of the extent to which America’s corporations have been welcoming women into their boardrooms and executive suites. As a snapshot of the current state of affairs, ION’s research shows that too many public companies continue to operate with homogeneous groups of directors and top management, and that too few have included among their leaders enough women and minority individuals to fully realize the benefits that true diversity offers.
Read the entire report (click on the report cover to the right), to learn more, and to find out how you can support ION’s initiative to encourage all of us to ask, “Where are the women?”
It’s easy to become part of the solution to the problem of inertia…and now is the time to do so.
Leading By Example
The Boston Club’s 2007 Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companiestop
This is the fifth consecutive year that The Boston Club has reported on the status of women on the boards of directors and in the executive suites of the largest public companies in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts economy has changed considerably. Among other things, we have witnessed the aftermath of the dot-com bust, the loss of several of the region’s largest corporations to acquisitions by out-of-state companies, and the continued growth of the life sciences complex of businesses. Private equity and hedge funds have become an increasingly important segment of the local economy and angel investors have proliferated alongside venture capital firms.
There has been progress of women to top corporate leadership positions in Massachusetts; however, this has not kept pace with other changes in the market. While this past year has seen the appointment of Carol Meyrowitz as CEO of The TJX Companies and the addition of two new women independent board chairs of large Massachusetts companies, the pace at which women have been joining the boardrooms and executive suites of the 100 largest public companies in the Commonwealth has been slow. Furthermore, as Census indicates, some companies are moving backward in their representation of women in leadership positions; others appear stuck at one woman director or executive officer. We are concerned with this situation and we are not alone. Recent studies by the Wellesley Centers for Women and by Catalyst highlight the value of having “a critical mass” of women at the table. In this year’s Census, The Boston Club is pleased to include a description of six companies that have done just that. It is our hope that others will follow their lead and join those corporate leaders who “walk the talk.” Five years from now, The Boston Club hopes that it will be able to report a more significant increase in the number and percentage of women in the boardrooms and executive suites of Massachusetts companies. In the meantime, we will continue to advance the business case for leadership diversity and to offer our services to those CEOs and board Nominating Committees who need assistance in identifying and recruiting talented leaders who happen to be women.
What Brings Women to the Top? Factors for Success
Claudia Peus, Ph.D.
Few Women Tapped for Board Vacancies
The Boston Club’s 2006 Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companies
A Status Report on Women Directors and Executive Officers of Public Companies in Seven Regions of the United States
Stuck in Neutral
The Boston Club's 2005 Census of Women Directors & Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companies
The Boston Club’s 2004 Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers
Women Make Headway in Board Room; Executive Positions Flat
Strategic Assets: The 2003 Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers
Strategic Assets: Women in the Globe 100
The Boston Club's Corporate Census of Women Directors and Officers
Suiting Themselves: Women’s Leadership Styles in Today’s Workplace
Missed Opportunities - Time for a Charge
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