Female Representation On Top Company Boards In Australia Just Hit An Important Milestone

Gender parity, from blue-collar jobs to board rooms, is an issue that typically sees more losses than wins. 

But today, we can celebrate the fact that Australia’s top-listed company boards now have women in over 30% of seats. According to new research in the University of Queensland’s Towards Board Gender Parity report, Australia has seen an increase from 8.3% to 33.6% of women on ASX200 boards in the last eight years. We're one of three countries in the world to hit this mark without legislated quotas.

This feat is both heartening and surprising to University of Queensland Business School researcher Dr. Terry Fitzsimmons. “Our research reveals a truly encouraging result, that Australia is leading progress for women on boards at an international level despite the challenges women still face to achieve gender parity, especially in the corporate landscape,” said Dr. Fitzsimmons.

Without government intervention and gender quotas, researchers noted that while the rise is remarkable, there's still a long way to go. 12 boards in the ASX300 do not have any women at all.

Through interviewing over 30 senior professionals and thought leaders, the University of Queensland identified several problems that women are faced with that either bars, or slows down, their ability to break glass ceilings.

“The two greatest barriers from our research were the lack of universal, affordable child care and persistent gender role stereotypes,” revealed Dr. Fitzsimmons. 

A further barrier is the current board skills matrix — which is the skills, knowledge, and experience that makes someone desirable for a board position. Currently, CEO experience is ranked highly and seeing as only 5% of CEOs are female, this pipeline is unsustainable and failing women. 

So, how do we ensure the number of women with seats on ASX boards continues to rise? The report recommends a review of the current board skills matrices, aiming for a 40/40/20 target for board gender parity, and for mentoring programs for women to be assessed and prioritised.