Should the current rate at which women are being added to corporate boards continue, gender parity could be achieved in approximately nine years, partner Andrew MacDougall told participants during a recent Women Get On Board (WGOB) Virtual Speaker Series panel discussion. Joining Andrew on the panel were Wendy Kei, Board Chair, Ontario Power Generation, and Michelle Banik, who currently serves on the Human Resources and Audit committees for Empire Company. Deborah Rosati, WGOB founder and CEO, opened and closed the session.
Over the past year, 45.3% is the rate at which women are being appointed to fill new or vacant board positions. This is considerably higher than the numbers when Osler published its first Diversity Disclosure Practices report nine years ago. During the last five years, there has also been a large drop in the number of men-only boards, as well as the number of boards with only one woman. Recent years have seen an increasing number of boards with three or more women.
Both Wendy and Michelle agree that achieving gender parity will require growing the pipeline of female board candidates, particularly drawing from the executive officer ranks. Boards today are also looking more for specialists rather than generalists such as retired CEOs, creating opportunities for women with specialized skills in such areas as finance and law. Age and term limits on boards will present further openings for qualified women candidates.
Watch the full webinar panel discussion
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