Scandinavian companies have steadily increased the number of women in the boardrooms since introducing quota legislation. But although this kind of policy has dramatic results, corporations need to encourage a deeper and more lasting change within their ranks.

Stereotypical beliefs contribute to the gender gap.

The second bi-annual EuropeanPWN BoardWomen monitor 2006, published by the European professional women's network, shows that top Scandinavian companies have steadily increased the number of women in the boardrooms since introducing quotas and other proactive policies into their systems.

Although, with the exception of Scandinavia, Europe lags behind the USA and Canada, Norway is the leader worldwide, with 28.88 percent of top companies having a woman in the boardroom, compared to 22 percent when the survey was first carried out two years ago.

Norway's success can be traced to the obligatory 40 percent quota of women in boardrooms imposed by the government on publicly listed companies. These companies, approximately 500 in Norway, are required to reach the 40 percent quota by the end of 2007 or be de-listed.

Sweden follows Norway with 22.8 percent of leading companies having a woman on the board and Finland with 20 percent and Denmark with 17.9 percent are close behind.

Scandinavian countries have now moved well beyond tokenism and serve as best practice for the world, which shows that "Legislation with teeth works," says Mary van der Boon, President of the EPWN Women's international Network Amsterdam (WIN).

In an interview with the Financial Times, Hilde Myrberg, one of the two women on the executive management team of Norwegian industrial conglomerate Orkla, said that many business women felt the implications of the sanctions against not fulfilling the quotas were "drastic", but they like the fact that the threat is working.

Before setting quotas, to help pave the way, the Norwegian Confederation of Industry's programme Female Future brought in training and networking not only to increase the proportion of women in boards of directors but in management in general.

Western Europe lags behind

The laggards in Europe are Portugal, with no women on the boards in top companies, Italy with 1.9 percent, Belgium with 5.8 percent and Greece with 4.4 percent. Spain, which is also in the bottom group with only 4.1 percent of top companies having a female director on the board, is hoping to correct this over the next few years through introducing a similar quota system to Norway's.

Countries described as middle-of-the-road were the UK with 11.4 percent of board members in top companies being women, followed by Austria, France and Germany. The Netherlands, which has a female board representation below the European average with 6.5 percent, is at the lowest end of this middle group.

The results also showed that in several countries a significant number of the female board members are labour union appointees. In France ten of the 41 female board members were union appointees and in Germany 66 of the 83. Of the board seats taken by employee representatives, 17.9 percent were occupied by women.

Nationality element of diversity moves faster

Another trend, most pronounced in the Netherlands, was the proportion of foreign-born female business leaders; as many as 71 percent of the women in the boardrooms of leading Dutch companies are expatriates.

Margot Scheltema, Finance Director Shell NL, which along with Ahold has moved beyond tokenism in the Netherlands, feels that the low percentage of Dutch women on boards is a reflection of the culture, history and absence of economic incentives in Holland which lead to lack of opportunity and demand.

The Netherlands, for instance, hasn't felt the same economic pinch as the Nordic countries, whose success can be put down to their concerted effort to make a change, driven by financial need.

Scheltema also mentions another widely held opinion; that because the Netherlands was neutral during the first world war, Dutch women didn't need to take control in the same way as women in countries such as Britain and France, who took over in the factories and businesses while the men and boys went to the trenches.

Blending political, corporate and social commitment

The way forwards, in Scheltema's view, will depend on a bundle of different small things plus time.

"The new generation of women in Shell has a different approach," she says. "I hope this new group of potential leaders will hang on."

The government can also be of great help through giving strong fiscal incentives, says Scheltema. "It can also lead by example through having a lot of women in high government places," she adds.

Shell has long been a supporter of mentoring programmes and Scheltema explains that Shell has gone a step further and is now organising cross-mentoring between companies. "I now have a female mentee from the Dutch Central Bank," she says.

Gender stereotyping knows no borders

The role culture plays in the women’s advancement to business leadership positions has recently been investigated by US-based research organisation Catalyst in collaboration with the Institute for Management Development in Switzerland. The results, published last week, show that stereotyping significantly contributes to the gender gap in European business leadership.

 Paradoxically, the survey shows that, despite the reputation Nordic nations hold for gender equality, stereotypic perceptions were most prevalent in this group. Nordic men perceived women as "relatively ineffective at delegating", a behaviour that over three-quarters of Nordic respondents ranked as a prerequisite for success in leadership.

The general consensus on stereotypical beliefs across all of Europe was that women are better at "taking care" — supporting others — and men are better at "taking charge "— influencing superiors reports Catalyst.

"This study confirmed that stereotyping knows no borders," said Catalyst's president Ilene Lang. "In this increasingly competitive global marketplace where companies must fully leverage all talent, they cannot do so if stereotyping of women prevails," she said.

Global companies especially should be aware of these differences as they transfer their executives in and out of these cultures.

Among the measures Catalyst suggests companies take to counter these biases are to expose employees to advocates for women leaders and engage men — through employee resource groups, discussion forums, or mentoring programmes — as advocates for women in leadership.

June 2006

Subject: Promoting diversity, HR and diversity management