Changing the Thinking but Not Yet the Reality in Jamaica - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Women have made little progress in board representation in Jamaica in the last decade. But a study by the the Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre in the country did note a big change in the mind-set in Jamaica.

• Male executives are very aware of the need for gender diversity on their companies’ boards, and not just for image reasons, the study found.

• Because board members in Jamaica are usually invited rather than elected, it would seem easy for that thinking to translate into actual representation, but it doesn’t work out that way.

• Instead, those women who reach board level do so on their own merits, while the men tend to be shepherded through a system of corporate and personal contacts. That means it is hard for women to reach the board period and especially outside of their immediate work environment.

• Those women who are on boards are more educated and are regarded highly by their (male) peers.

• But, finally, the study found a still-entrenched view that women are too distracted by domestic concerns to serve as well as men on boards.

The Jamaica Observer article