More women than men appointed to supervisory boards for the first time

Dutch listed companies have for the first time appointed more women than men as supervisory directors. Eighty-five new commissioners were appointed this year, of whom 47 –– or 55 percent –– were women.

These figures come from the Female Board Index 2022, which Mijntje Lückerath, professor of corporate governance at Tilburg University, has drawn up for the 16th time. At the 89 listed Dutch companies, the percentage of female supervisory directors rose this year from 33 percent to 38 percent. However, the share of female directors still lags behind, rising at least from 14 percent to 15 percent. Of the 32 new directors, only five were women .

Since Jan. 1, 2022, the legal quota of at least one third woman and at least one third men on the supervisory board of Dutch listed companies has been in effect. Of the 89 listed companies, 72 companies meet this requirement, compared to 61 a year ago. At 27 companies, the quota is exactly met and at 45 companies, more than a third of the supervisory directors are women.

Only 27 companies have a woman on the board of directors. The 62 companies without female directors have appointed 20 new male directors this year.

Currently, 23 companies have both a supervisory board and an executive board that is made up of more than a third of women. In 2021, there were still 16. Wolters Kluwer, DSM, ABN AMRO and Beter Bed make up the top four, where half of the directors and supervisory directors are women. At Wolters Kluwer that is even more than half. The companies with the fewest female directors and supervisory directors are usually relatively small listed companies, including RoodMicrotec, GeoJunxion and Value8.