Women in SE Asia gaiining representation in boardrooms, report finds

“While many countries in the region do not have legal requirements or quotas for the number of women on boards, this upward trend demonstrates a growing recognition of the positive impact of gender diversity in the boardroom, which is especially important as organisations respond to new and evolving business challenges,” she said. “Over time, I look forward to seeing such positive change snowball and accelerate in the region.” 

Globally, women hold less than a quarter (23.3%) of board seats, a 3.6-percentage-point increase since the report’s last edition in 2022, indicating that gender parity will not be achieved before 2038. Furthermore, there is no clear path to gender equality in the board-chair or CEO positions. 

Deloitte Global said there is still much work to be done. 

To make parity a reality, a wide range of stakeholders would need to devote more attention and action to assist corporate boards in more accurately reflecting the societies in which they operate, and boards themselves would need to continue to take action and ask the appropriate questions.

Anna Marks, Deloitte Global chairwoman, said the business case for diversity is clear: Companies with more diverse boards perform better financially. Despite this, it is clear that a significant increase in momentum is required to achieve gender equality in the boardroom.

“With women currently still underrepresented on company boards globally, that step-change in momentum will require organisations and investors to do more to realise the benefits that diverse boards can bring,” she said. 

The study also noted that governments’ roles have a significant impact on advancing parity at the board level, and many countries around the world see the benefits of government action.

According to Deloitte Global’s report, five of the top six countries with the highest percentage of women on boards in the study have some form of quota legislation, ranging from 33% (Belgium and the Netherlands) to 40% (France, Norway, and Italy). However, quotas are not the only tool for progress. Continued government initiatives, such as the use of targets and disclosures, have aided progress. 

For example, in the United Kingdom and Australia, women now hold more than one-third of board seats. While there is no magic number of board seats an individual director should hold, geography-level data show that the movement to increase gender diversity on boards has not resulted in “overboarding”, as some may have feared.

However, government action alone is unlikely to achieve parity. Despite the numerous issues competing for investor attention, stakeholders, including investors, should remain vigilant in setting expectations around gender diversity.

Meanwhile, since many companies prefer to recruit board members with CEO experience, these numbers do not paint an optimistic outlook for pipeline development. 

The report suggested that companies should expand their skills-profile requirements to diversify their boards further and shore up critical skill gaps, and build the pipeline of future female leaders so that progress can be sustained and enhanced into the future. 

Deloitte Global chairwoman Marks emphasised that board agendas are more packed than ever before, and the challenges and emerging areas that boards must stay on top of are only growing. 

She pointed out that directors must remain focused on gender equality in order to advance progress as organisations strive to create more equitable and balanced boardrooms and C-suites with true diversity of thought.

“Business leaders across markets should commit to collaborating on these matters; sharing their challenges as well as their successes, having the courage to ask difficult questions, and doing their part to help accelerate the timeline for achieving gender parity in the world’s boardrooms and C-suites,” she said in a statement. 

The most recent edition of the report examined more than 18,000 companies in 50 countries and geographies, looking at women’s representation on boards as well as insights into the political, social, and legislative trends that underpin these figures.