This threefold surge outdid the UK which showed an increase from 9.7% in 2004 and has just reached its 2015 target of 25%. European boards on average showed an increase in female directorships from 8.0% to 20.3% over the same period, and some are implementing 30% quotas.
"South Africa has progressed better than most countries, largely because its legislative framework addressed some structural issues and influenced corporates to be more gender and equity sensitive, but there is still much work to do," says Sandra Burmeister, CEO of Amrop Landelahni.
"The UK made a focused effort to increase women on boards against a voluntary target and under the threat of European Union quotas," says Burmeister.
"However, it is a concern that a target of between 25% and 33% of female directors is regarded as the norm, even though women make up around half of the workforce."
"Moreover, women have yet to attain a representative share of board leadership or senior executive roles. In SA, only 11.6% of chairpersons and CEOs on JSE-listed companies are women. Another concern is that the percentage of executive directorships at 6.9% is far below that of non-executive directorships at 15%. This reflects a global trend, and smacks of tokenism."
A broad spread off female directorships is particularly prevalent in SA. According to the BWA, since 2004, the number of women with one board position has decreased from 81.8% to 51.2%. The number of women with two directorships stands at 34.8%, and 70 women (14%) hold three or more board seats.
"There's also the fear that whatever halting progress has been made will diminish once companies take their foot off the accelerator," says Burmeister.
"Generally in a shrinking economy, companies put less effort into diversity and other 'soft' development initiatives."
Burmeister believes that the fall-off in the proportion of women at every step up the corporate ladder is a major obstacle. "McKinsey's research shows that men are twice as likely as women to reach middle management, and once they have won a seat on the executive committee, they are five times as likely as women to become CEO," she says. "We need to plug the leaks in the promotion pipeline."
There is a growing body of evidence that gender diverse boards achieve better financial results in terms of larger operating margins and higher share price valuations.
"Gender diverse companies have a clear strategic focus on integrating women's experiences and viewpoints into the culture of the organisation," says Burmeister. "They understand that preparing the next generation of women is critical, and put in extra effort to bring women into senior management roles.
"Gender diversity should be positioned as integral to corporate performance, and treated in the same way as any other culture change initiative. It needs to be thoroughly planned and must have the full commitment top management and the board. Setting term limits and identifying qualified women are ways of encouraging diversity of board members," says Burmeister.
