Women's Share of European Board Seats Increases to More Than 20 Percent, but Progress Stagnant in Executive Director and Board Leadership Positions

London (ots/PRNewswire) -

Findings Highlighted in Egon Zehnder's 2014 European Board
Diversity

Analysis

More than 20 percent of directors on large European company boards
are women, a significant increase from 15.6 percent just two years
ago and a jump from 8 percent in 2004. These are the findings of the
2014 Egon Zehnder European Board Diversity Analysis, which examined
board diversity at more than 350 companies with market
capitalizations in excess of EUR4 billion across 17 European
countries. Egon Zehnder has released this report biennially since
2004.

European boards have also progressed in other aspects of
diversity; today, nearly one-third of directors (32.3%) on large
European company boards are non-nationals, representing a major
change from 2006 when just 22.7 percent were non-nationals.

At the same time, however, the 2014 study revealed a continued
scarcity of female executive directors (5.6%), which in turn carries
profound weight in shaping the future of board diversity.

Europe Leads Gender Diversity Progress Worldwide

With 20.3 percent women, European boards have nearly doubled the
average female representation of boards studied outside of Europe
(11.6%). European boards are now in line with those in traditionally
high-ranking countries like the United States (21.2%) and Australia
(22.6%). The five countries worldwide with the highest percentage of
women on large company boards are all European and include two
non-Nordic countries for the first time: the U.K. and France
(28.5%).

"We believe the evolution towards greater board diversity is
steadily advancing, and the issue has become more deeply embedded
into the conversation at the highest levels of organizations around
the world," said Rajeev Vasudeva, Chief Executive Officer of Egon
Zehnder. "Boards, just as much as CEOs, must embody and champion the
importance of diversity, and as average CEO tenure shortens, boards
are essential for ensuring cultural and strategic continuity on this
topic."

Extending the analysis to regions outside of Europe for the first
time, the report evaluated board data from an additional 568
companies from around the world. The study found board diversity is
still in single digits in many countries' largest companies - India
(8.8%), China (9.2%), Japan (3.3%) and Russia (5.6%) - but in each
region, at least one country is showing progress, such as Poland and
Hungary in Eastern Europe, Indonesia in Asia and Chile in South
America.

The Next Frontier: Women in Board Leadership and Executive
Director Roles

Despite significant gains in female participation on European
boards, women have yet to attain a corresponding share of board
leadership roles. Female representation in board chair positions
(2.6%) among the European boards studied is comparable to the average
of 3.7 percent across all other regions.

In addition, the small number of female executive directors (5.6%)
reflects the ongoing challenges European companies face in building
their talent pipelines and fostering the progress of the next
generation of women through their executive ranks.

"We've seen significant progress in the diversity of European
company boards since 2004, but 20 percent female representation
should be the start and not the end goal," said Edwin Smelt,
Co-Leader of Egon Zehnder's Global Diversity & Inclusion Council.
"Plenty of work remains in identifying a wider pool of female board
candidates as well as retaining executive-level women and assuring
their advancement within organizations so there is ample readiness to
pivot to the boardroom."

Further information

For key findings, sector and country breakdown and further
details, visit http://www.egonzehnder.com/EBDA-2014

ots Originaltext: Egon Zehnder
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Enquiries please contact: UK - Tessa Curtis (M:
+44(0)776-7654-122; tessa@tessacurtisassociates.com) / Germany -
Martin
Klusmann (F: +49(0)30-32-79-55-97; martin.klusmann@egonzehnder.com) /
Remaining Europe - Astrid Carniaux (F: +49(0)211-55-02-85-75;
astrid.carniaux@egonzehnder.com) / All other markets - Hilary
Crnkovich (F:
+1-312-782-2846; Hilary.crnkovich@egonzehnder.com)