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Women's Economic Empowerment |
Putting more women on corporate boards
American economic growth and competiveness is strengthened by business' ability to gain value from an increasingly diverse labor force. Women have excelled in educational attainment and have been led to expect full equality in the workplace. That expectation, and the progress built upon it, is undermined when women cannot achieve equal status on the highest rung of the corporate ladder—the board. In 2011, women occupied just 16 percent of Fortune 500 board seats. That percentage is far below the percentages of women in the labor force, enrolled in higher education, and graduating with advanced degrees. This leaves untapped an important source of expertise and insight. Without a serious commitment to bringing more women onto boards, U.S. corporations will find themselves falling behind international competitors that are getting the most out of an expanding pool of talented women by opening to them more opportunities for success and advancement.
The situation for the United States is urgent, as other countries move ahead with numerous efforts to provide women with greater access to board membership and other opportunities for advancement. Despite a professed desire by many companies for greater diversity and female representation, there has been virtually no improvement in recent years. This is a problem that will not fix itself. America's business leaders should understand that they need to use all available talent to succeed in today's global competitive markets, and such talent increasingly will come from women.
On Monday, June 25, 2012, CED will release a new report from the Women's Economic Empowerment Subcommittee entitled, Fulfilling the Promise: How More Women on Corporate Boards Would Make America and American Companies More Competitive. The release event will take place from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. at McKinsey & Company's New York office. The event will feature keynote remarks from James Turley, CEO of Ernst & Young. Additional speakers include Beth Brooke, Global Vice Chair of Public Policy at Ernst & Young, and Joanna Barsh, Director at McKinsey & Company. To attend the event, please RSVP here.
Mr. Turley recently received the "Go Lead Award" from the White House Project. In the video clip below, he makes the business case for greater gender diversity in corporate leadership on Bloomberg News.
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