More Women In Subtop Management

According to an investigation by Volkskrant, the number of women in top management positions has risen. Volkskrant did the yearly investigation among 35 top companies in the Netherlands. The investigation focuses on functions just below the board of directors and the executive boards. Those positions deliver the new boards members. The number of women in the top management functions rose from 20 percent last year to 21 percent this year. The rise of potential female board members is welcomed by the people who want more diversification in the Dutch boards. Another investigation, the Dutch Female Board Index, revealed this year that from the 213 board members in the top Dutch companies, only 10 are female. That number was only increased by one in the last year. The goal is to have at least 30 percent of the top management functions occupied by women in 2016. With a ‘supply’ of only 20 percent in the subtop management this goal seems to be difficult to meet. Companies which have already 30 percent women in the subtop are Reed Elsevier, Unibail Rodamco, Randstad and Ahold. At eleven companies the number of women in the subtop management shrinked. A good example is Shell with a decrease of 2.7 percent. Twenty of the investigated companies are on the rise, with respect to the number of women in the subtop management. At Wereldhave the increase was 10 percent, followed by Aperam, Akzo Nobel, Heijmans, Boskalis and Imtech. The least increase was for ASML with 7%. Composer of the Female Board Index, professor Mijntje Lückerath from Tilburg University, says that the difference in the percentage of the subtop and the top is understandable. There are not so many new spots available in the boards. But, she says, the higher the percentage in the subtop management, the higher the number of women chosen for a board position will be.