While charities appear to be steamrollering ahead of the private sector on women in the boardroom, all is not as favourable as it seems. Andrew Hind comments on where the sector is failing.

Just a few weeks ago, on 8 March, the world celebrated 100 years of International Women’s Day. It was a time to ask why, in so many countries, serious inequality still exists between men and women in areas such as health, education, work and politics.

In the UK, despite significant improvements in recent decades, gender inequality still prevails in many aspects of our national life. More than 40 years after the Equal Pay Act 1970 – think Made in Dagenham – women working full-time can still expect to earn an average 16 per cent less than men.

Every international NGO will tell you that increasing the involvement of women in local decision-making is vital for achieving change, and that giving women more control over household income has a dramatic effect on the wellbeing of their families.

It is therefore no surprise to read the conclusions of the recent report Women on boards, published by Lord Davies, who was asked by the government to identify ways of promoting gender equality on the boards of UK-listed companies. Lord Davies found that the business case for increasing the number of women on corporate boards is clear:

“Evidence suggests that companies with a strong female representation at board and top-management level perform better than those without, and that gender-diverse boards have a positive impact on performance.”

The report goes on to point out that: “Women ask the awkward questions more often, decisions are less likely to be nodded through. Boards are often criticised for having board members with similar backgrounds, education and networks. Such homogeneity amongst directors is more likely to produce ‘groupthink’. Women bring different perspectives and voices to the table, to the debate and to the decisions.”

In this area, as in so many others, charities are teaching their corporate cousins some important lessons about good governance. Whereas Lord Davies found that women make up only 12.5 per cent of the members of FTSE100 company boards, women comprise – on average – 45 per cent of the members of all charity trustee boards.

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Our story, Untapped treasures: women on boards looks further into the charity experience. Our analysis shows that gender diversity around the trustee-board tables of the largest charities is, in many cases, worse than amongst small charities.

Only 18 of the top 100 charities have more than the sector-average of 45 per cent female trustees. A staggering 27 of our top 100 charities have less than the minimum 25 per cent female representation on their boards that Lord Davies recommends for FTSE100 companies. And, worst of all, six of the top 100 charities have no female trustees at all.

Of course, generating a rich and diverse set of experiences, views and voices in charity boards doesn’t just come as a result of a healthy mix of male and female trustees. One is also looking for diversity in age, social background and ethnicity. But the critical first base for building board diversity is to get the gender balance right.

Male preserve

Cancer Research UK and the National Trust both have only two female trustees on boards of 12 (17 per cent); WWF has two women on a board of 13 (15 per cent); and, amazingly, RNLI and PDSA have a lone woman trustee on boards of 11 and 12 respectively (9 and 8 per cent). It is hard to see how boards like this can break free from the tendency for ‘groupthink’ that Lord Davies warns about.

These household-name charities are all doing excellent work, and they are all brand leaders. Indeed, RNLI has just topped a poll by the Reputation Institute assessing the reputations of leading companies and charities. Cancer Research and the National Trust also scored highly.

If these charities could improve their gender balance at board level they would become even more impressive role models for civil society. 

Andrew Hind is editor of Charity Finance and former chief executive of the Charity Commission