Women on the management boards
Episode #32

Women on the management boards

Interview with: Iwona Kozera
Deputy Managing Partner for EMEIA Consulting at EY & Founder at Fundacja Liderek Biznesu

Scientific research indicates that the percentage of women on the boards of listed companies results from a lower social readiness to accept women in roles related to exercising power, but also from the readiness of women themselves to perform such roles. Women are not perceived as serious candidates for serious roles. This is the “think manager, think male” effect.

According to the report of the Foundation of Women Business Leaders “Women in listed companies”, the growth rate of women’s participation on supervisory boards and management boards is not only slow but is even decreasing. Only 10.2% of women sit on the management boards of listed companies in Poland. For comparison, in France, this rate reaches 45%.

Iwona Kozera
At the beginning of the activity of the Women Business Leaders Foundation, I was a passionate opponent of introducing gender parity in Poland, because even the EU directive does not include a fifty percent participation of women. It seems that this solution may indeed be perceived as an artificial solution and therefore women who are promoted, join management boards, and join supervisory boards may be perceived as women who entered these positions thanks to the regulations on parity. However, now I believe that it cannot be implemented any other way. It is impossible to achieve this goal in any other way, because the environment and the situation are simply changing too slowly. We need to introduce some incentive into the system that will lead to this.
Iwona Kozera says, Deputy Managing Partner for EMEIA Consulting at EY and Founder at Fundacja Liderek Biznesu
Enjoy a talk about equality and diversity

01:10 – SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONDITIONS AND THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN BUSINESS

  • the pace of social and cultural changes,
  • gender parity doesn’t sound good,
  • “think manager, think male” effect,

18:17 – INEQUALITIES IN POLAND AND IN THE WORLD

  • large, recognizable brands with no trace of women on the management board,
  • sanctions amounts to business supporting tool,
  • inequalities in management and supervisory boards,
  • change not only for women, change for the entire economy,

33:35 – ACTIONS FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

  • gender equality, equal pay,
  • the presence of women on management boards and changing leadership patterns,
  • women supporting each other in business.