This morning, Women's E-News reports that since 2003, when Norway required corporate boards to be made up of at least 40 percent women, "plenty of other European countries have followed:
Spain: 40 percent by 2015 for market-listed companies or those with more than 250 employees.
France: 40 percent by 2017 for market-listed companies or those with more than 500 employees.
The Netherlands: 30 percent by 2016 for market-listed companies or those with more than 250 employees.
Iceland: 40 percent by 2013 for companies with more than 50 employees.
Italy: 30 percent by 2015 for market-listed companies.
Belgium: 30 percent by 2016 for big market-listed companies and by 2019 for small- and medium-sized companies."
The writer, Nele Feldman, then asks why this hasn't happened yet in Germany, "where women make up 15 percent of the board of directors."
I know what you're thinking: The U.S. must not need such a law, since women already make up more than ... umm... okay, just kidding. According to Catalyst, in 2010, women made up 15.7 percent of the Fortune 500's boards of directors. Which is only about 35 percent less than the percentage of women in the U.S. workforce at large. Since women aren't very hard-working or ambitious, and we've only been guaranteed equal opportunity in employment for about 45 years, that sounds about right, yes?
What-snarky? Moi?
Check out the OECD's reasoning for why gender equity on corporate boards matters here.
