It might seem like common sense that since approximately half of the human population is female, half of corporate board members should be female. But that's not how a lot of board directors see it. According to a new PwC survey, 43 percent of board directors from 884 public companies think the "optimal percentage of female representation on public company boards" is 21-40 percent, and 10 percent think it should be between zero and 20 percent.
Only five percent thought there should be more than 50 percent, and 43 percent put the ideal number between 41 and 50 percent.
This means at least 52 percent (that is, not counting those who said "41-50 percent") of board directors believe the ideal board has more men than women. And fewer than half of them think gender diversity is important.
The results are a little less shocking when you consider that 83 percent of respondents were men and only 17 percent were women (a breakdown that would constitute the ideal board for one in ten directors). 97 percent of those who said the ideal board had 20 percent or fewer women were male.
People continue to hold these beliefs despite numerous studies that have found that companies with female board members do just as well or better. The return on equity for boards with female leadership is over a third greater than those dominated by men. Large companies with at least one woman on their boards outperform those with no women by 26 percent in the stock market.
The bright side, we guess, is that more people care about gender inclusion than they used to. In 2014, 37 percent of directors—four percent fewer—said it was important. And the age of the average respondent was 63, so it may not represent younger generations.
So, it looks like we're making some progress. It's just painfully slow.
Source: http://www.glamour.com/story/this-vision-of-an-optimal-board-of-directors-is-seriously-sexist
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