Demand is rising for women directors.

• Author: Daum, Julie Hembrock

The numbers tell only part of the story of the evolution in boardroom thinking.

Though historically women were virtually unrepresented on corporate boards, demand for women directors has begun to rise recently, and there isn't a simple cause-and-effect explanation for the phenomenon. Rather, a number of trends have converged and the result is that capable women are increasingly being sought to fill corporate director's posts.

Does the demand reflect a responsiveness on the part of corporations to shareholders? Certainly. A desire on the part of senior executives to demonstrate to employees that women are valued in a company? Yes. A recognition that a significant portion of their customer base is female? Indeed. But the demand also reflects a gradually growing general acceptance of women as peers in the boardroom.

A gut feel may tell one that a sea change is taking place with women in the boardroom, and our experience certainly confirms this conclusion. Of the board searches our firm conducted last year, one out of four of the directors recruited was a woman. And our clients are specifically requesting that women be included in the final slate of candidates presented to them.

Growing Diversity Among Candidates

The numbers, however, only tell part of the story; an equally interesting subplot is emerging from beneath the surface figures and reflects a harder to quantify but just as real change in attitude. Not only are companies aggressively seeking more women directors, they are considering a broader range of candidates than ever before.

For many companies, the ideal specification for a director has been, and continues to be, an active or retired CEO. Since there have been only a handful of women in this category, companies that wanted to add women to their boards had to look to governmental, non-profit, and educational institutions, where women have traditionally succeeded. Now there are more women coming up the ranks in business, and companies are more inclined than ever to consider women candidates who may be less visible than CEOs or government and educational leaders but equally strong contributors for their boards. These candidates include:

* Women with profit-and-loss responsibility: they may be running a large division of a major company, be head of a smaller company, or be entrepreneurs.

* Women with strong financial experience: they may be CFOs or hold other major financial positions with companies.

* Women with proven marketing...