Cranfield Report on women in boardrooms is published

Financial Skills Partnership says we need women at all levels, not just at the very top
The latest Cranfield Report published tomorrow is expected to report that the number of women on the top boards of FTSE 100 companies in the UK has risen from 12.5% last March to a little over 15%.

The report, authored by Professor Susan Vinnicombe and Dr Ruth Sealy of the Cranfield School of Management, will give a sixth-monthly update on how UK companies are performing against the targets set by Lord Davies in his review and recommendations last February. He recommended that the proportion of women on FTSE 100 companies’ top boards be increased to a minimum of 25% by 2015.

Liz Field, CEO of the Financial Skills Partnership comments: “While the increase in top board membership is clearly welcome, we believe that a lot more work could be done to help adjust the gender balance throughout company hierarchies, in particular at the level immediately below the one currently reported on.

“Recent research indicates that female participation at this level is actually declining rather than rising, a trend that needs to reversed if we are to ensure a continuous pipeline of female talent. Companies would do well to follow in the footsteps of the most progressive amongst them which - besides introducing better diversity monitoring and tailored development and mentoring programmes for women - are also trying to tackle the most deep-seated causes such as unconscious bias.”