The presence of women in the upper echelons of listed companies still resists, but they are constantly on the market even more. Currently, there are 227 women on the boards of the 84 companies that make up the permanent market, with an average of two women remaining for each. in 2022 the female presence increased to 29.48%, a much lower figure compared to 37.47% of Ibex 35. According to the XI Report “Women in the Ibex 35 and VI x Councils”, it is the third year in a row that these companies have not advanced enough in terms of parity. “-ray of the entire continuous market” was jointly produced by Atrevia and IESE. Among all listed companies, there are six companies that do not have women on their boards of directors (Berkeley Energía, Borges, Nextil, Nyesa, Pescanova SA and Urbas). Human in Organizations at IESE Business School. “They’re putting the feminine vision aside,” lamented during the presentation of the report, professor of management Nuria Chinchilla.
It’s not all bad news. Gradually listed companies are trying to reach parity. With or without a woman in their assembly, they went up to 13 in 2022. compared to 26 the previous year. The uninterrupted market has recruited 24 new women to its councils and its pace has increased slightly compared to the previous year. Here are some companies that have made great strides in getting women on their boards. For example, Audax Renovables, Deoleo, and Amper had only men on their boards in 2018, and now women represent 33.33% in the first two cases and 30% in the third.
Among companies that exceed the CNMV’s Good Governance Act’s recommendation to reach 40% of women on their boards of directors are 14 companies from the perpetual market. There are cases where they are really committed to gender equality in their corporate governance, Like Realia with 4 women and 3 men on the board of directors in 2018 (57.14%) and still around (50%) in 2022. Others, such as Nicolás Correa, reached 42.86% four years ago, and today that percentage remains unchanged.
Improvements to Ibex
The main Spanish selector has won 14 women on their board of directors and Reaches 37.47% female presence. Thus, it increased from 290 women to 272. In total, 35 Ibex companies accumulate 41.79% of female directors of listed companies, and 18 companies exceed the 40% recommended by the regulator. “Since there is no quota, these companies are made because they want to, not because they have to,” Chinchilla said. If the data continues at this pace, it is estimated that all Ibex will have more than 40% women on their boards this year. Among the most equal companies are Cellnex, Acciona Energía, Red Eléctrica and Rovi, while five companies, including Solaria, still do not exceed 30%.
Although they are good data, there are not many positive nuances. For example, women sitting on boards of directors are independent and not possessive. There are only three female presidents. (Beatriz Corredor in charge of Red Eléctrica, Ana Botín in Santander and Marta Ortega in Inditex) in front of the seven presidents who are constantly on the market. María Dolores Dancausa is the sole CEO of all listed companies. Of the 187 committees in publicly traded companies, 88 are chaired by women (47.06% compared to 37.5% in 2021), particularly on sustainability and nomination committees.
However, Asun Soriano, CEO of Atrevia, said, “We think we are on the right track, but now the biggest challenge will be on the executive boards.” Special, Female representation rate in executive committees 16.57%. Colonial, Naturgy, Sacyr or Telefónica are some of the companies that have more women on their boards than on their executive committees. It should be noted that although women are inside, they perform personnel, organizational, communication and brand functions (35%), while 25% perform duties related to the financial field.
These are figures that have improved significantly since Atrevia and IESE began producing this report in 2015, but the listed group of companies is still a long way from breaking the CNMV-recommended 40% barrier. At the current feed rate, the forecast is that it will be reached by 2025. While experts refuse to set quotas, one of the incentives of these years will undoubtedly be the approval of the European directive mandating 40% of women on the boards of large companies by 2026: “You should do organic growth” Chinchilla says always and does not set quotas. The way to do this is to provide flexibility to the workforce and create a mechanism that makes women’s achievements and productivity visible, which are often hidden from men.