Reaching a balance: women on boards

At the end of January, the Scottish Parliament approved the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Bill.

The bill sets an objective for public boards that 50 per cent of their non-executive members are women by the end of 2022. 

It also requires steps to be taken to encourage women to apply to become non-executive members of public boards.

The Scottish Government said that evidence shows diversity leads to better decision making and ultimately, better performance.

Equalities Secretary Angela Constance said: “At its heart this bill is equality for women. It is about this parliament using the powers that it has to deliver a fairer, more equal Scotland

“Women’s voices need to be heard, and they need to shape the decisions that are made in Scotland’s boardrooms and impact on our services. Scotland’s public bodies, colleges and universities are responsible for significant sums of public money and oversee and deliver public services which touch on all aspects of people’s lives.

“It’s also really important that we continue our focus on encouraging women to apply for these positions in the first place. We have made much progress increasing the numbers of women on public boards from 35 per cent in 2007 to 45 per cent today. But we cannot be complacent and this legislation will ensure we cannot stall or regress that progress.

“Positive action and appointing on merit are not mutually exclusive. The primary objective here is still to make sure we are attracting the most diverse, talented people to Scotland’s public boards.

“The passing of this bill is an important step as we continue to make progress on our journey towards gender equality and creating a fairer country, with the aim of shattering the glass ceiling once and for all. I believe this bill can be a catalyst for the equal representation of women in all areas of our society.”

Speaking on behalf of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee during the stage 1 debate, deputy convener Alex Cole-Hamilton said he wanted to “tackle some of the myths that have surrounded the bill”. 

He said: “The bill does not establish quotas or ask public bodies to appoint on any basis other than merit. 

“Positive action is not the same as positive discrimination. Positive action will ensure that we are able to aggressively tackle the problem of the underrepresentation of women on our public boards. 

“The evidence speaks for itself: positive action works, positive action does not preclude appointing on merit and diverse boards beget better outcomes.”

He also said that the committee felt there were some areas of the legislation which could be improved.

“The bill sets out what it describes as the gender representation objective, which is that, by 31 December 2022, 50 per cent of non-executive members of public boards will be women,” he added.

“It aims to achieve that objective through positive action measures. It is crucial that we distinguish positive action, which involves offering targeted assistance to disadvantaged or underrepresented groups, from positive discrimination, whereby an individual is chosen solely on the basis of their protected characteristic. The bill does not introduce positive discrimination, which is illegal.”

However, during the same session, Conservative equalities spokesperson, Annie Wells MSP, said while she wants to see equality for women and 50:50 gender representation in “all spheres”, she does not want statutory quotas to be the means of bringing that about.

She added: “Although I wholeheartedly believe that more needs to be done, there are a number of questions that we need to answer. Do we believe that quotas will truly address the cultural and societal barriers that prevent women from applying for board positions in the first place? Will they identify and rectify the obstacles that prevent women from reaching top board positions, or will they serve as a misleading marker of progress?

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“The bill is already limited in scope in that it relates only to certain public sector bodies and to colleges and higher education institutions in Scotland; it does not extend to private companies or charities. 

“At the time of the bill’s introduction, the percentage of non-executive female board members stood at 42 per cent, but that figure is now 45.8 per cent. Further to that, the Scottish ministers are already responsible for around 60 per cent of appointments to the boards that come within the scope of the bill.”

Labour’s Monica Lennon said it is not only on public boards that women are underrepresented. 

She said: “Engender’s Sex and Power in Scotland 2017 report revealed that women are largely posted missing from almost every area in Scottish public life. 

“Women make up only 35 per cent of members of the Scottish Parliament, 29 per cent of local councillors, 16 per cent of council leaders and 28 per cent of public body chief executives. 

“To put it another way, that means that men account for 65 per cent of parliamentarians, 71 per cent of councillors, 84 per cent of council leaders and 72 per cent of public body chief executives.

Looking at those figures, it is baffling to me that anyone can continue to conclude that we live in a meritocracy.”

In terms of the private sector, the Engender report stated that progress towards women’s leadership within the private sector has been “extremely slow”. 

It said: “This contributes to a vicious circle of gender inequality in the corporate sphere, as businesses continue to discriminate against women and provide very limited support in recognition of gendered realities. 

“Systemic pregnancy and maternity discrimination, male-dominated working cultures and sexist norms, a lack of flexible working opportunities and quality part-time work, and onerous working models for senior staff are all barriers to women’s career progression. 

“This is despite the clear-cut business case for women’s leadership. 

“It is widely recognised that greater diversity across management and company boards improves organisational performance and access to resources.”

Engender said that 100 per cent of CEOs of Scotland’s 50 ‘top companies’, as identified by Scottish Business Insider, are men.

This annual ‘top 500’ ranking is based on a number of performance indicators and covers a range of companies that operate in Scotland. For the purposes of the report, Engender included the top 50 that are registered or have UK headquarters in Scotland.

In 2015, across Scottish-based firms in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 respectively, 75 per cent and 82 per cent of company directors were men.

It continued: “Another headline figure, indicative of barriers to equal opportunities for women in the private sector, is that only 21 per cent of Scotland’s 339,000 small and medium enterprises are led by women. 

“In order to break this male stranglehold on power throughout the business world in Scotland, employers must undertake targeted action to tackle sexist corporate cultures that exclude and alienate women and create structures and policies to enable women’s career progression.”

However, work is being done to try and increase gender representation. For example, Edinburgh Business School, the Graduate School of Business of Heriot-Watt University, launched a new scholarship in partnership with the 30% Club.

The winner will enrol on the Edinburgh & Dubai MBA programme, with its focus on entrepreneurship, available for the first time from September 2018.

With the aim of increasing gender equality in business, Edinburgh Business School teamed up with the 30% Club, which is working to raise the representation of women at senior levels.

Speaking at the launch of the scholarship, Professor Heather McGregor, the Executive Dean of Edinburgh Business School, said: “Across the world women are underrepresented in decision-making positions, particularly in politics and business, and this is why we want to encourage females to apply and study with Edinburgh Business School.

“Our MBA programme can help businessmen and women to realise their ambitions. We know that companies with a strong track record of gender diversity are more likely to have higher earnings than their peers – business equality makes business sense.

“The scholarship is designed to enhance the role of women in business leadership and we are delighted to partner with the 30% Club GCC, which I was a co-founder of.”

Organisations like Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES) are also working to create an entrepreneurial environment where women-led businesses can flourish.

In November a host of Scotland’s leading female business leaders joined WES’s prestigious Ambassador programme, following funding announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

WES Ambassadors represent businesses of all sizes, sectors and locations across Scotland, providing accessible, relatable role models for women who are considering starting a business or are growing an existing business.

Among those who have joined the Ambassador programme are Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne (Genius Foods), Justine Mitchell (Chamomile Sanctuary), Jo Macsween (former CEO of Macsween Haggis) and serial tech entrepreneur Vicky Brock.

WES chairperson Lynne Cadenhead said: “The Ambassador programme is a core element of the Scottish Framework and Action Plan for Women’s Enterprise. 

“Research consistently shows that women entrepreneurs seek out and are inspired by accessible role models and we are delighted so many inspiring women have stepped forward to inspire, engage and connect with women-led start-up and growth businesses.”