Is all lost?

Is all lost? 

Not really and not at all. In fact, the board recruitment climate for women is very positive, according to a Spencer Stuart report (2016).

Search committees are  broadening their search criteria to consider what have euphemistically been referred to as "non-traditional sources". To be sure, likely candidates ought to have the requisite skills including: executive experience, industry knowledge and market understanding. However, and certainly in a country like Canada, political and public sector connections are vital. And, executive experience need not be specific to a particular industry. It may also include senior public service experience either as an ADM or DM. For this reason , first timers need not be shy. In 2010, 29% of board appointments were , in fact , first timers. Over the course of the next 7 years, this has inched up to 30% of board appointments. In 2011, almost 50% of Canadian director appointments had no executive experience. 

Women who have an interest in serving on Boards, may wish to compare their backgrounds to those of newly appointed directors. Three years ago, Ernst and Young reviewed the biographies included in proxy statements for Canadian directorships held by 275 women who joined company boards in 2011 and 2012. While 63% were current or former public corporation executives, most of these held executive positions other than CEO. A companion study done by Spencer and Stuart (circa 2011) noted that the qualifications of new directors sought by corporations more typically reflects the strategic needs of the corporation. 

The interests  and expertise recruited included besides executive leadership and industry experience, as the top 2 qualifiers, in order of preference:

• financial/accounting
• expertise in governance ( a very critical skill in this climate post 2008 financial collapse)
• operational
• international (this one qualification adds 4000 women to the potential pool of candidates, if one is selecting from abroad)
• strategic planning and marketing
• IT (especially important given the current climate of cyberwarfare being prosecuted against business world wide)
• public policy (important in a period of increased government activity in the market)

Don't expect the topic of diversity to be even considered. 

Ad don't expect regulators or government to introduce legislation to advance equal opportunity legislation. The notion that mandated pay equity would make changes to women's earning power has turned out to somewhat ineffective, in this country. And, yet, where it has been properly implemented-and accepted-by industry, it is more likely that women will be well represented on corporate boards. 

Where are we going with this set of blogs.?? What I am doing is outlining more than a few of the impediments affecting women as they rise to positions of authority and power within the corporate world. 

I will eventually get to a discussion of  what strategies women might use to rise to directorships. 

Ultimately, I will proposing a board game using this information.