Yet
another tally finds that only 17 per cent of the directors of the Fortune 500
companies are women—and only 15 per cent of the senior executive slots are
filled by women.
It
was the same story last year, and the year before that….
We
know the story: most directors and executives and managers are men, so men are
much more likely to have managerial and executive experience, so the men in
positions of power mostly hire men to fill empty positions.
Let's
get real about executive qualifications and experience—I'll argue this point: the
average female executive/director is a
lot more qualified and experienced than the average
male executive/director, because the woman ran a longer, tougher gauntlet to get
into her seat.
Of
course there are really good male candidates for every empty board seat….and really
good female candidates.
Nevertheless,
I think no one would ingenuously argue that all of the current male prospects for
Fortune 500 board seats are more qualified than the handful of exceptional female
candidates who would be seriously considered.
I'd
love to challenge every Fortune 500 board that's looking to fill an empty chair
right now to demonstrate that there is no woman who outshines the top three short-listed
men.
Go
ahead, crunch the probabilities for yourself.
I
think the conclusion is inescapable: all those guys who fill the board rooms should
do themselves and their companies a favor and increase the female contingent to
at least, say, 18 per cent.
That's
for starters….
....and
you know what should come next.
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