If you’re waiting for more women to get the top jobs, you could be waiting a while yet. While it’s nice to see the trajectory is on the way up in terms of companies improving their gender balance, it’s moving at a glacial pace.
omen’s groups have become so used to the inertia they are jumping up and down at even the most infinitesimal fraction of a percentage increase in the number of women on boards, in the numbers nabbing chief financial officer roles or moving into the prized inner circle of CEOs.
The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show a small improvement in the past two years.
Female representation on boards for instance rose from 20pc in 2019 to 22pc in January this year. That’s a rate of one percentage point a year.
At that rate, it could be the middle of the century before there’s a 50:50 balance.
The problem is that there are a whole lot of problems.
You’ll hear everything from women not putting themselves forward for roles, that there are not enough women in some sectors to put themselves forward in the first place, plus the old ‘jobs for the boys’ culture being blamed. But some companies are probably not doing a lot about it.
Look at the fact that 94pc of board members at the big construction companies are men, for example.
Gillian Harford of the 30pc Club Ireland says there are shining examples like CRH which has done a lot to address this.
She feels there is no need for it. You can bring board members in from any kind of industry, or with different experience, in HR or marketing for example.
Unless there is a closer look at the figures, many chief executives may have little incentive to end workplace cultures that have been around so long that bias is probably unconscious.
Many of the companies who have actually got a plan are probably not getting enough thanks because they are lifting the averages for those who haven’t bothered.
This online survey paints a picture, but it’s not a full picture. It was carried out among 700 employers and 67pc responded. You could wonder if those with something positive to say were more likely to reply.
Gender pay gap reporting is on the way and is likely to bring more transparency about the gender balance in workplaces. It has its limitations too. It is not going to show if workers doing the same job are paid the same. But it may raise questions about why women are not promoted, or are concentrated in particular positions.
Emma DeSouza, Women in Leadership Coordinator at the National Women’s Council of Ireland, said the new figures indicated the pace of change was too slow.
“The increases in female representation are extremely limited and marginal with risk of backsliding and regression,” she said.
“That women account for only 13pc of CEOs in Ireland’s large enterprises shows the stark disparity between women and men in decision-making spaces.”
The organisation is recommending a 40pc gender quota for women on publicly listed company boards.
“Evidence shows that such measures can have significant trickle-down effect and it’s clear from these figures that Ireland needs real change.”