More companies file reports about male-to-female ratios in senior management

Over 4,000 Dutch companies filed reports about the man-to-woman ratio in the highest positions in their company, the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER), reported. This is over 1,000 companies more than last year. The number of women in executive positions is still lagging.

According to the numbers collected by the SER regarding 2023, the share of women on the management board increased by 0.6 percentage points between 2022 and 2023, while the share of women on supervisory boards decreased by 0.5 percentage points.

"This seems like a trend break, but these figures should be interpreted with some caution," said the SER. "This year, considerably more companies have reported, and the diversity within the group of companies that fall under the law is great." Previous research by the SER showed that the percentage of women on supervisory boards increased faster than among management board positions.

“It is very good to see that more women are working in high-level positions within companies,” Marielle Paul, the state secretary for emancipation, said about the numbers. “It is heading in the right direction, but we are not there yet.”

There are differences amongst companies in how much they are working on diversifying the executive level positions. Within the group of companies that have been reporting for several years, the percentage of female directors was higher than average, and in this group, the share of female directors increased between 2022 and 2023.

At the end of 2023, an average of 15.3 percent of directors were women. On average, 25.7 percent of the seats in supervisory boards were filled by women.

SER chairwoman Kim Putters thinks that it is notable that this many companies have reported their male to female ratio in the higher level positions. "Especially in these times when diversity is under pressure internationally," he says.

The Growth Quota and Target Figures Act has been in force since 2022. The target of this law is to make the ratio of men and women in higher-level positions more even. Part of this is that at least one-third of the directors of listed companies are women.

In total, more than 5,400 companies fall under the law that requires them to report their figures to the SER in order to have more women in top positions. Of these, 3,461 companies reported to the SER on time.

In addition, 602 companies that do not fall under the law have voluntarily submitted figures. There are no sanctions for companies that are required to report according to the law, but do not do so.