Ministers slam bosses over 'pitiful and patronising' excuses for keeping women off boards
3 min read
Ministers have torn into company bosses over their "shocking and pathetic" excuses for failing to appoint women to corporate boardrooms.
A Government-backed review of gender equality on the boards of Britain's top 350 firms is currently underway, with ministers pushing for one-third of leadership positions on FTSE-listed companies to be taken up by women by the end of the decade.
In a bid to shame bosses into taking action, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has now published a list of excuses from company CEOs and chairs who have so far spoken to the review.
They include shocking claims that women do not "fit comfortably into the board environment", lack the "right credentials", and "don't want the hassle or pressure" of taking major decisions.
One chief told the review: "We have one woman already on the board, so we are done - it is someone else’s turn."
Another said: "Shareholders just aren’t interested in the make-up of the board, so why should we be?"
While the number of all-male boards in FTSE 350 companies has plummeted from 152 in 2011 to just ten in 2017, ministers say around a third of top firms still have very few women on their boards or in top leadership roles.
Furious Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said the list of excuses showed there was more work to do to open up boardrooms to women.
"It’s shocking that some businesses think these pitiful and patronising excuses are acceptable reasons to keep women from the top jobs," he said. "Our most successful companies are those that champion diversity."
His colleague Lord Duncan added: "These shocking and pathetic excuses for not appointing women to FTSE company boards highlight the necessity to keep driving home the message that women must be in senior roles."
Labour MP Jess Philips told PoliticsHome that colleagues outraged by the bosses’ comments should move to oust them.
“The failing is not women's suitability - it is the inability of CEOs to see beyond their own image and preferences which, if anything, proves their businesses’ desperate need for diversity,” she said.
“It sounds to me like it is the men who say these things who have a lack of vision and their fellow board members should act to replace them."
Labour MP James Frith branded the excuses "a disgrace", adding: "Frankly, the men that hold these views aren't fit to hold board level roles and should be ejected."
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