Glass ceiling a persistent reality in many of Iseq’s big-name companies
Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011
The majority of board memberships, executive and non-executive are still held by men
DESPITE THE changing nature of gender relations in the workplace over the last few decades, corporate Ireland remains a predominantly male domain.
An analysis of the board configuration of companies listed on the main securities market of the Irish Stock Exchange (see panel) shows that the majority of board memberships, both at executive and non-executive level, are held by men.
Ten of the 32 companies analysed have no female representation at board level. Five have one woman executive director, while 18 have one or more women non-executive directors.
In terms of representation by percentage, a recent study by Grant Thornton found that only 3.7 per cent of all executive directorships and 8 per cent of non-executive directorships of the companies listed on the Iseq's main securities market are held by women.
This compares to figures of 4.9 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively for FTSE 100 companies. There is also a wide disparity across companies in relation to gender representation on boards.