Advancing board diversity: search firms can do more: as the focus on board gender diversity sweeps the world, executive search firms can play a constructive role toward furthering the desired goals.

• Author: Felix, Peter M.
• Position: BOARD DIVERSITY

IN A RARE EXAMPLE of global synergy, initiatives to encourage a larger percentage of women to serve on boards of directors are springing up around the world. The lack of gender diversity on corporate boards has been the object of intense scrutiny and debate over the last few years. Board diversity notably has been found to correlate with better performance. Fueled in part by government interest and, in some cases, by government intervention, this worldwide phenomenon is gaining momentum and has become a major focus for media attention. In other words, the time for this issue has come.

The level of female representation on boards differs from country to country. Some countries, such as Norway and Sweden, are in the 30-40 percent range, and others, such as the U.K. and the United States, lag behind in the 10-20 percent range. Nevertheless, the cause of promoting more women on boards has become almost universal.

Part of the challenge is around supply--the corporate pipeline. Fewer women than men are coming through to the top level of organizations for a variety of reasons as described by McKinsey in its 2007 report, Women Matter. These include the early exit of women from top management ambition because of the "double burden" of career and family obligations, the male corporate model still prevalent in many corporations, and the legacy prejudices of the "glass ceiling." But part of the challenge is also around demand, i.e., that there are plenty of women more than capable of serving on boards who are not currently getting those roles because they are not being sought out and "demanded" by boards.

The challenges clearly need to be addressed from a number of angles. Chairmen, nominating committees, and chief executives of public companies around the world need to take action so that board positions can be opened to more female candidates. Investors need to demand it. And there needs to be more training and development of women at universities and business schools to assume board roles during their management careers.

How can executive search firms play a constructive role in furthering these obvious goals?

Opportunity to do more

Many firms already pursue candidate diversity as an end in itself and have done so for many years. Some even specialize in providing diversity candidates. The AESC has always promoted nondiscrimination based upon gender, race or creed. However, there is still an opportunity for executive search firms to take a more...