New research from the University of Queensland Business School shows female representation on ASX200 listed boards has jumped from 8.3 per cent in 2008 to 33.6 per cent in 2021.
Ms Go said she is a “huge advocate for quotas”, but in their absence, shareholders had been active in pushing for greater diversity on boards. The report recommended a national workplace gender equality strategy to open a pipeline of women into executive and board positions. It also highlighted the need to address the gender pay gap.Andrea Staines, who has been a full-time non-executive director on a number of boards in transport, infrastructure and retail services, said she has seen an improvement in female representation.
“Those boys are in a society five days a week majority run by men and whose boards up until recently had been all men. How does that validate for those senior contributors to the country that females can take half the roles?” she said.“We will also need to make more room for men in traditional female roles too. It has to go both ways.”
Are things any better?