On Board With Gender Diversity By Angela Hotham
The article “On board with gender diversity” by Angela Hotham summarizes some of the challenges women face which prevents them from being fairly represented at the board level in organizations. She defines the issue and supports her arguments by researching organizations and their practices to understand reasons why women are under represented at the board level.
Her analysis exposes organizations which are dominated by male board members who tend to hire their own like - minded individuals when it’s time for replacement. Hotham brings forward the existence of a misconception where employers feel it’s harder to find “qualified women” who can be represented at the top level. While providing examples of reliable industry databases with information on qualified female talent, Hotham addresses these companies and asks them to overcome this practice. She supports her arguments by providing strong reasoning on how …show more content…
Using current sources of data, she supports her hypothesis that in 2016 out of “667 companies listed on TSX, 45% had no women” and how gender diversity has recently started getting more attention in industries today; where “S&P/TSX companies have a goal to have 30% female representation serving their boards by 2022”.
While she addresses the problem and provides recommendations based on reliable industry data; it is critical to note that her analysis on the issue doesn’t talk about any new ideas. The problem of gender diversity and lack of female representation in leadership roles is not new in organizations. A lot has been said and spoken about it in published research and articles. Leaders in organizations attempt to resolve this issue every day, introduce training programs, commit diversity dollars, have professional networking events, but is there any real data that can prove if there is any actual progress
Her analysis exposes organizations which are dominated by male board members who tend to hire their own like - minded individuals when it’s time for replacement. Hotham brings forward the existence of a misconception where employers feel it’s harder to find “qualified women” who can be represented at the top level. While providing examples of reliable industry databases with information on qualified female talent, Hotham addresses these companies and asks them to overcome this practice. She supports her arguments by providing strong reasoning on how …show more content…
Using current sources of data, she supports her hypothesis that in 2016 out of “667 companies listed on TSX, 45% had no women” and how gender diversity has recently started getting more attention in industries today; where “S&P/TSX companies have a goal to have 30% female representation serving their boards by 2022”.
While she addresses the problem and provides recommendations based on reliable industry data; it is critical to note that her analysis on the issue doesn’t talk about any new ideas. The problem of gender diversity and lack of female representation in leadership roles is not new in organizations. A lot has been said and spoken about it in published research and articles. Leaders in organizations attempt to resolve this issue every day, introduce training programs, commit diversity dollars, have professional networking events, but is there any real data that can prove if there is any actual progress