More women reaching board positions in Dutch listed companies

The number of women in top positions at listed Dutch companies continues to grow. In the past year, 37 female directors and supervisory board members were appointed, 38 percent of the total new appointments. Last year, that figure was 33 percent, NOS reports from the annual Female Board Index, compiled by Professor Mijntje Lückerath.

The index tracks the percentage of female directors and supervisory board members at 82 Dutch listed companies. Since January 2022, a statutory quota has been in effect for supervisory boards at listed companies. At least one-third must be women and one-third men. Of the 82 companies on the list, 70 now meet this standard.

With another year of growth, it is now appropriate to speak of a trend, Lückerath told NOS. “I think the growth will continue steadily, especially among female directors. They had a peak last year with the number of appointments, and that’s continuing this year. And things have been going well for women supervisory board members for much longer.”

Of the 34 new directors appointed in the past year, 9 are women. And 28 of the 63 new supervisory board members are women. According to Lückerath, the difference is due to the different supplies for the different functions. Directors lead a company daily, which means they often get promoted from within the company. For supervisory board members, companies also look outside the company. “The pool of new directors is therefore smaller,” Lückerath said.

Currently, 17 companies have at least 33 percent women on both their supervisory and executive boards. Wolters Kluwer and the technology company Hydratec lead the rankings with 60 percent women on their combined boards. ABN Amro is in third place with 53 percent

This year, ASML and Philips scrapped their diversity promotion rules because of a law enacted by American president Donald Trump that forces companies to stop promoting inclusion and diversity. The law applies to companies that contract with the US government.

According to Lückerath, Trump’s policy had little effect on these two Dutch companies’ diversity figures. “I think a lot of companies are motivated to increase those percentages themselves,” the professor said. “The path towards diversity has already been set, both in terms of gender distribution and in all other forms of diversity.”