Initiatives fail to change board gender imbalance

The male dominance of the upper echelons of European business has barely changed over from 2008 to 2010, in spite of a clutch of government and private initiatives aimed at encouraging companies to appoint more women to their boards.

Women account for 11.7% of board seats at the top 300 European companies, up from 8.5% in 2008, according to research by Russell Reynolds, the headhunter. But only seven women hold chief executive or executive chairwoman positions and one in five companies still has an all-male board.

Website: Russell Reynolds Associates http://www.russellreynolds.com/

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