Boardroom selection still involves bias

There continues to be a gender bias in boardroom appointments in Britain’s biggest companies, according to new research.

The study, by researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh, Sheffield and Stanford, analysed the board composition and performance of British companies listed on the FTSE350 (Financial Times Stock Exchange) between 1996 and 2010.

The percentage of female directors increased over this period, from more than 2% in 1996 to more than 8% in 2010.

However, the chances of women being appointed to boards remain low. The only factor that significantly increases the probability is if a woman had recently stepped down from the board, which raises questions of tokenism, said the researchers.

Report author Professor Brian Main, of the University of Edinburgh Business School, said:

“There is clear evidence that the process of making nonexecutive boardroom appointments is not yet gender neutral. Once in the boardroom women executive directors seem to be paid as well as their male counterparts, but for nonexecutive directors the reward for women lags behind that of men.”

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