While women are gaining a stronger foothold in boardrooms of South Africa's 100 largest listed companies, their numbers remain low. Through her research, Prof Suzette Viviers from the Department of Business Management provides insight into the gender disparities on corporate boards, and the importance of bringing about transformation.

As part of South Africa's Women's Month celebrations, Viviers, who collaborates with SU colleague Dr Nadia Mans-Kemp, tells us more about her most recent study.

Tell us more about your research.

Over the past couple of years, Dr Nadia Mans-Kemp and I have looked at the board composition of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), paying particular attention to gender composition. In our most recent study, we found that the percentage of women directors serving on the boards of the 100 largest listed companies (Top 100) increased from 21,37% in 2011 to 27,27% in 2019. Not only is the increase statistically significant, but it is also much higher than board gender diversity in Europe (which stood at 23% according to a 2019 McKinsey & Company report). Globally, this figure sits at around 20%.

Closer investigation revealed that women directors who were serving on the Top 100 boards over the research period were younger than their male counterparts and tended to have shorter tenures. The latter might be attributed to women mostly being appointed as non-executive directors (NEDs).

Compared to their male counterparts, more women directors in the Top 100 companies had more than one occupational background. There were also more master's graduates among females than among the men. Whereas significantly more men had engineering and accounting backgrounds, more women had legal, consulting and academic backgrounds. Women directors held significantly more board positions concurrently, whether at JSE-listed companies, unlisted companies or other entities, such as industry associations, state-owned enterprises, public and pension funds, charitable foundations, university councils, national or international sports federations and non-profit organisations (such as educational trusts or cancer associations).

Although a significant increase is noted in the number of black women directors (from 12,94% in 2011 to 19,58% in 2019), much work remains to reach the Department of Trade and Industry's B-BBEE targets.

Why or how did you become interested in this specific area of research?

I have always been interested in ethics and its application by investors and business leaders operating in a free-market economy. As such, most of my research has centred on responsible investing and corporate governance. My interest was also piqued when a friend (a highly educated woman who had worked her way up the ranks at a large clothing retailer) remarked that she would never be appointed to the board of her employer, as she was a woman.

We further realised the relevance of our work when we evaluated the performance of directors serving on the board of a large listed financial company last year. That exercise highlighted the challenges that both men and women experienced in their roles as executive and non-executive directors.

Why do you think this is such an important area of research for South African women?

There is a large and growing body of academic literature that shows that the presence of women in boardrooms contributes positively to financial performance and innovation. Also, let us not forget that women represent half of the population. As such, we feel that it is critically important to identify the factors contributing to the relatively small number of women directors, particularly at large JSE-listed companies.

Our research and that of other scholars shows that the pool of eligible women (in terms of education and experience) is not as small as is often claimed. We strongly advocate for nomination committees to cast their nets wider than their existing recruitment networks. We also stress the importance of providing all directors (not just women) with support in order to balance work and family commitments, and with access to mentoring and coaching.

What would you consider the greatest impact of your research on women in the country?

​Raising awareness. We acknowledge the progress that has been made in terms of board gender diversity in the country, but call on locally listed companies to do more. Although some companies have board gender targets and report their progress with these annually, the targets are often very easy to achieve. True transformation requires a step-change in the way companies recruit, induct, motivate and remunerate women directors. How is it possible that, in this day and age, some companies still pay women directors less than their male counterparts (something our research confirms), while the women are better educated and bring a wider array of experience to the boardroom than the men?

What would your message be for the next generation of women researchers?

The business and moral case for board gender diversity is clear. However, legislation is not the best option to accelerate more women into the highest decision-making echelons of companies. The question we now need to answer is more pragmatic: What should local companies do to create a more enabling corporate culture for women directors, particularly those in executive positions?