Girl power: a board of directors with a female face

According to the published annual index, the proportion of women on boards of directors of Dutch listed companies has increased from 9 to 12 percent, and the proportion of women directors in supervisory bodies has increased from 27 to 30 percent.

In 2020, as in 2019, every fourth newly appointed director was a woman. However, three-quarters of the new board positions were still held by men.

It is noteworthy that for the second year in a row, the same number of women were appointed to leadership positions. “I see this as a break in the trend,” says Female Board Index author Meintje Lukerath. “It is gradually becoming indecent for the management of a company to consist entirely of men.”

Last December, the House of Representatives approved a rule that at least 30% of the board of directors must be women. Currently, a law is being developed that will increase this figure to 33%. The mandatory quota for the number of women on the company's board is expected to be introduced in 2021.

Currently, 54 out of 94 listed companies already comply with the rule on gender composition of boards of directors.

Seventy listed companies do not have a single woman on their board of directors. Seventeen of these companies had a male board member last year.