Where the World's Top Companies Stand
20-first's Global Gender Balance Scorecard 2011
- In this 3rd annual survey, the 20-first Global Gender Balance Scorecard looks at a single measure of progress: the gender balance of the Executive Committe of the TOP 100 companies in three key regions of the globe.
- Most of the world’s top companies have embraced the idea that corporate governance through all-male boards is a thing of the past. Our 2011 survey finds that 74% of companies in the US and 68% in Europe now have at least two women at board level, as many have progressed beyond the token “one.”
- However, as 20-first has long argued, boards are not the best metric for evaluating the actual gender balance inside companies. Instead, the gender balance of the Executive Committee is a much better indicator of progress, as it looks at the executive team actually running the business.
- If we look at Executive Committees of these top companies, the data shows that companies have not achieved the same progress as they have in balancing their boards. 59% of US companies have at least two women on their Executive Committe. Europe is far behind with 20% and Asia lags with only 4%.
- Globally, 90% of Executive Committee positions in our survey sample are filled by men, with only 10% by women.
- Our 2011 Global Gender Balance Scorecard evaluates where companies are in balancing their Executive Committees. The scorecard segments companies into one of 6 categories: Asleep, Token, Starting Smart, Progressing, Critical Mass,and Balanced.
- The full report below describes what the top companies have achieved to date on their gender balance journey.
20-first's Global Gender Balance Scorecard
KEY FINDINGS
- US Leads. The US leads the way with 59% of companies having at least two women on their Executive Committees. However, upon closer inspection the picture is not quite so rosy. Of the 1,227 Executive Committee members of America’s Top 100 companies, only 205 (or 17%)are women and 1022 (or 83%) are men. The majority of these female Executive Committee members are in staff or support positions (145, or 12% of total)such as HR, Communications or Legal, whereas only 60 women (or 5% of total) are in line or operational roles.
- Europe Struggles. With only 20% of companies having at least two women on their Executive Committees, the overall picture shows that European companies are still struggling to make progress in gender balancing their top teams. Of the 938 Executive Committee members of Europe’s Top 100 companies, only 78 (or 8%) are women and 860 (or 92%) are men. Again most of these women (56, or 6% of total) are in staff or support roles. Only 22 women (or 2% of total) are in line or operational roles.
- Asia Lags. With only 4% of companies having at least two women on their Executive Committee, the overall picture is one of significant imbalance. Indeed,compared to the 926 men (98%) on Executive Committees in Asia, there are only 14 women in staff roles (1.5% of total) and a mere 6 women in line or operational roles (0,6% of total).
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