More women in high positions at Dutch companies; Boards of Directors lagging behind

The share of women in top positions of large Dutch companies increased between 2020 and 2022, but the number of women on Boards of Directors is not growing fast enough, according to the Social and Economic Council (SER). The advisory council called it a “persistent fact” that the percentage of women on Boards of Directors is lagging behind.

The advisory council studied the male-female ratio of over 2,000 large companies. In 2022, Dutch companies’ Boards of Directors - the executives handling the day-to-day management of a business - consisted of 14.7 percent women, on average, up from 13.8 percent in 2020.

That percentage rose faster in Supervisory Boards, from an average of 21.9 percent women to 26.2 percent. The government imposed a quota on Supervisory Boards, the SER noted. At least one-third of listed companies’ Supervisory Boards must be women.

The SER also noted that the gender balance at the top of companies differs significantly per sector. The construction sector has the lowest proportion of women at the top - 5.8 percent on Boards of Directors and 10.8 percent on Supervisory Boards. Companies in culture, sports, and recreation have the most women in leadership positions - 31.8 percent of their Boards of Directors and 57.5 percent of Supervisory Boards in the sector are women.

According to the SER, companies are becoming more transparent about their approach to more diversity in their leadership positions, but there is “still real work to be done.” Of the around 5,800 companies that must adhere to the women’s quota, only 2,057 reported their male-female ratio to the advisory council.