1 in 9 Corporate directors are women in latest count
1 in 9 Corporate directors are women in latest count
Status quo remains with some signs of progress
Women now hold 12 percent of corporate director positions in Canada(508/4,225), a 0.8 percentage point increase since 2003 indicating little progress has been made in adding women to the boardroom, according to the 2005 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of the FP500. This fourth-of-its-kind census provides an accurate measure of women’s advancement to leadership in Canada’s 500 largest companies.
In releasing the study, Sonya Kunkel, Catalyst Canada Senior Director, said:“The sluggish rate of progress demonstrated by many of Canada’s leading businesses pales in comparison to the robust domestic corporate climate these companies have experienced. The number of women on FP500 boards clearly does not reflect their true impact on the Canadian economy as wage earners,managers, professionals, consumers, investors, and business owners.”
The 2005 Catalyst census key findings include:
Publicly traded companies experienced virtually no change in the percentage of women directors (9.2 percent versus 9.0 percent in 2003).
Crown corporations had the highest percentage of women on their boards at 28.5 per cent, up from 23.7 per cent in 2003. Their superior performance masks the slow rate of growth in the number of women board directors in private companies, co-operatives, and public companies.
The percentage of companies with at least one woman board director increased from 48.6 per cent in 2003 to 52.8 per cent in 2005.
The percentage of companies with multiple women board directors increased almost 4.0 points since 2001 to 25.8 per cent.
Key findings / full report available at: www.catalyst.org
