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The survey by Corporate Women
Directors International found that 16 percent of directors at U.S.-based
healthcare and pharmaceutical companies are women -- slightly more than the
national average for all companies of just under 15 percent. But nearly 36 percent of
Financial Times 500 companies did not have any female directors, including
industry giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.N:
Quote,
Profile,
Research) (GSK.L:
Quote,
Profile,
Research), the report found. "While we see promise among
some companies -- particularly those based in the United States -- there is a
shocking number of companies with absolutely no female representation at all,"
said Irene Natividad, co-chair of Corporate Women Directors International.
"They are on boards. There are
just not enough of them," Natividad said in a telephone interview. "It is so clear if you didn't
have women there wouldn't be an industry. They are the arbiters of the health
care, they are the workers. So why aren't there more?" she added. "So for a company to grow, they
really, really need to have people on the board and in management who have
insights into how to reach that group better." The survey found that Wellpoint
(WLP.N:
Quote,
Profile,
Research), a health benefits company, had the highest percentage of women
directors at 31.3 percent or 5 out of 16 directors. Health insurers Aetna Inc. (AET.N:
Quote,
Profile,
Research), Britain's drug giant Astrazeneca (AZN.L:
Quote,
Profile,
Research) and diversified healthcare company Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N:
Quote,
Profile,
Research) all had boards of directors with just under a third female
members. None of the 22 Japanese
healthcare and pharmaceutical companies included in the Financial Times 500
listings had a any women on their boards, the survey found. "I think there is a lack of
vision on the part of current board members, a majority of whom are male,"
Natividad said. "It does require leadership
from the top to make change happen." Natividad said studies had
shown that companies with more diverse board members -- females and minorities
-- often had better share prices and overall better value. "What we are asking for is
institutional change -- it's cultural change in the business community and
change is difficult for a lot of people," she said. Last month the National
Academies of Science looked at whether there were any good reasons for men to
outnumber women in top scientific and mathematics faculty jobs and found none. A committee of experts looked
at all the possible excuses -- biological differences in ability, hormonal
influences, childrearing demands, and even differences in ambition -- and found
no good explanation for why women are being locked out. Bias was the best possible
explanation, the committee said. |
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