Women grossly under-represented in boardrooms
In Malta, two percent of the members of the board of directors of the largest nationally registered companies in the stock exchange are female.
On the other hand, gender balance is more evident in government appointed boards. In effect nearly 25% of the members of government appointed boards are female.
A report on Progress on Equality between Women and Men in 2010, published recently by the European Commission, gives an overview of the gender balance in business leadership.
The Report on Progress on Equality between Women and Men in 2010 established the percentage of members of the highest decision-making body of the largest publicly quoted companies for last year.
This is the first annual report presented after the adoption of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the European Commission’s new Strategy for Equality between Women and Men.
The report describes recent developments in gender equality in the EU and presents statistics on all areas covered, as well as recent new developments in the Member States, including Malta.
It establishes a state of play for the five priority areas of the Women’s Charter and the Strategy, among these is the area of gender equality in decision-making. The report reiterates that the higher up the hierarchy, the fewer women there are. The percentage of women in key political and economic positions is roughly unchanged from last year.
The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) believes that safeguarding equal treatment between men and women in leadership and decision-making positions is fundamental to ensure equality of opportunities for both genders.
To this effect, NCPE is carrying out a research analysing what produces the ‘glass ceiling’ and the ‘glass cliff’ in Maltese society.
