Women in Corporate Governance
Women are under-represented in the ECGI network and in the broader fields of academia and management. They account for only 17% of the appointed research members and 15% of the overall membership. ECGI recognises the important contribution of female scholars and leaders in corporate governance. It aims to improve the opportunities for this under-represented group by highlighting their work and identifying new candidates to join the ECGI research network. This page is intended as a dedicated resource to identify the female members of the network and also provide links to supportive groups within other organisations. Here are some of the things ECGI is doing to improve gender diversity in corporate governance:
1) Actively include female speakers on event programmes; in overall terms ECGI is including more women each year, however, the percentage of their participation has only improved from 6% (in 2002) to 25% (in 2019). This is an ongoing challenge.
2) Actively identifying female scholars for nomination as research members while maintaining ECGI's current high admittance standards. In overall terms ECGI has appointed 26 female researchers in the past five years, however they remain a marginal group in the network. It is possible to submit names of female scholars for nomination by email to membership@ecgi.org
3) Actively appoint female board and committee members. All ECGI committees and boards have female representation and it will remain a focus to improve this in the future.
4) Provide a list of female members which can be used as a helpful resource for identifying speakers for corporate governance events (see below).
Some of the things ECGI plans to deliver in the near term:
1) Establish a female community network within ECGI.
2) Organise a high profile conference on the theme of Women in Leadership (corporate governance and stewardship).
3) Establish a 'Women in Corporate Governance' online series.
Through various initiatives, ECGI aims to improve the representation of women throughout the network. Things you can do to support women in corporate governance:
1) Consider women in your network who may benefit from these initiatives and direct them here as a starting point.
2) Nominate your female colleagues for ECGI research membership (by email to membership@ecgi.org)
3) If you are female, join the Women in Corporate Governance community group by visiting here.
4) Regardless of your gender, please attend, participate and engage with events under this initiative.
5) Propose to co-brand your 'Women in Corporate Governance' events with ECGI (by email to elaine.mcpartlan@ecgi.org).
6) Suggest other ideas and useful links for this page.
A separate topic page on Diversity collects the academic literature on the topic of diversity in corporate governance. The research provides evidence that firms with a culture of ethical behavior toward women earned excess returns of close to 1.5% per highly-paid female executive. Furthermore, public attention to gender equality changes the way female directors are recruited. First, the pool of female directors broadens without any obvious compromises on quality. Second, public attention to gender equality reduces the probability that connected men are appointed, leading to higher female board representation.
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Contact:
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Resources:
AFFECT: Academic Female Finance Committee of the American Finance Association
Daughters of Themis: International Network of Female Business Scholars
Women in Business Law Initiative (Penn Law)
Women in Business Law Initative (Berkeley Law)
Hampton-Alexander: Championing more women on FTSE Boards and in leadership
Hampton-Alexander Review FTSE Women Leaders (November 2016)
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Events:
