If we accept that the equality objectives in companies go through have 30% of the positions of a Board of Directors covered by women, then the report Women on the Boards of Listed Companies produced annually by Atrevia and IESE This is good news, since it shows that in 2020 the Ibex 35 companies advanced 3.9% in this regard and achieved that 31.2% of the seats are female.
However, the figure is still insufficient to compensate for the shortcomings that exist throughout the Continuum, where the relative weight of women in the Councils barely reaches 25.78%, and is far from the aspiration of 40% marked by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) for 2021, but was forced to postpone.
Of the 127 companies analyzed by the study, only 14 exceed that threshold: REE, Caixabank, IAG and Santander, on the Ibex 35, and Adolfo Domínguez, Realia, Ezentis, Prim, Nicolás Correa, Reno de Medici, Soltec, Unicaja, Logista and Euskaltel, on the Continuo.
The reference date now for the rest to reach that 40% is the year 2022, although those responsible for the report, Nuria Chinchilla, IESE professor, and Asuncion Soriano, CEO and president of Atrevia Espaà ± a, believe that it will be achieved sooner because “it would only be necessary to incorporate one more woman in each company” to achieve it.
Companies without female directors
It seems easy, but reality shows that it is not so easy. Just look at the 10 companies in the Continuous Market (excluding the Ibex) that still resist without any counselor -NH Hoteles (9 directors) Nextil (7) BorgesAgricultural & Industrial.Nuts (6) Codere (6) Urbas (6) Deoleo (6) Nueva Pescanova (5) Amper (5) Audax Renovables (5) and Berkeley EnergÃa (5) – or at 25 that only have one -for example, Catalana Occidente, Talgo, DE Anclaje-DESA, Fluidra, Másmóvil, Airtificial, Grupo San José Neinor Homes.
Why do these situations occur? According to those responsible for the report, a push is lacking to accelerate awareness among companies, but it is not the only factor. “There is a question of a circle of trust, of thinking about the person who is close to you, with whom you play golf… “, Asunción Soriano explained. For this reason, the head of Atrevia has taken the opportunity to make a” call for women to make ourselves visible and eliminate the false paradigm that we have to choose between personal life and professional career “.
Nuria Chinchilla has explained it in another way, but also along those lines. “Networking is essential”, has said.
The worst part, however, continues to be in the highest executive branch of the Ibex 35, where there is still almost no female representation. Only three women have the maximum decision-making power: two as CEOs (Ana Patricia BotÃn, in Santander and Beatriz Corredor, en Red Eléctrica), and one as CEO (Maria Dolores Dancausa, at Bankinter). “It is very residual and we must go to more,” said Chinchilla.
Some advances
Despite this, the 2020 analysis has produced several positive conclusions. For example, although the number of seats on the Ibex has dropped by almost one tenth, the presence of women on the Boards of Directors has more than doubled in the last decade and stood at 139 female directors in 2020, 15 more than the previous year.
The report, which covers 127 companies, concludes that 49 companies -almost 39% of the total- met last year the parity target recommended by the CNMV (30%). While the 35 companies of the Ibex globally already reach the suggested quota, 14 of the listed companies of the selective (40% of the total) still do not meet the goal: Ferrovial, Solaria, ACS, Cie Automotive, Amadeus, Bankia, Enagás, Naturgy, Banco Sabadell, Colonial, Acciona, Meliá Hotels, Viscofán and Telefónica. In contrast, 19 companies exceed the proposed figure of 30% and four companies stand out even exceeding the 40% goal: REE, Caixabank, IAG and Santander.
In the rest of the Continuum, a third of the companies (28 of the total of 92) manage to apply the 30% recommendation. Among them, 15 exceed the 30% target; eight reach the figure of 40% (Euskaltel, Unicaja, Logista, Soltec, Reno de Medici, Nicolás Correa, Prim and Ezentis) and up to two already reach a 50% share: they are Realia and Adolfo Domínguez.
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