BUILDING INCLUSIVEBOARDS TO ACHIEVE
GENDER EQUALITY
Guidance Note | Principle 1

INTRODUCTION
Women’s active participation and decision-making in theeconomy is crucial for long-term economic prosperity.
According to a study of 353 Fortune 500 companies,
on average, the companies with the best financial
performance had more women in their top management
teams than lower performing companies.1
Yet, barriers to women’s full economic participation,
employment and progression into leadership roles andboard membership persist. For example, in 2018,
women held 16.9 per cent of board seats and 4.4 per cent of
CEO positions worldwide. 2 Among fortune 500 companies
across the U.S. in 2018, 17.9 per cent of board seats were
held by Caucasian women, and 4.6 per cent were held byminority women.3 In the EU, 23.3 per cent of board membersof the largest publicly listed companies are women.4
In various sectors in major cities across Canada, women hold40.8 per cent of board seats, with non-racialized women
outnumbering racialized women by a substantial margin. 5
Companies and organizations achieve success in the global
economy when they take action to eliminate genderstereotypes in the workplace and ensure that the talents,
skills and perspectives of women are welcomed and valued
in the boardroom. However, women cannot be considered a

GUIDANCE NOTE: Building inclusive boards to achieve gender equality

homogeneous group and when tackling barriers to their
participation, an intersectional lens can be used to target
women of diverse backgrounds with differing identities
and abilities.

Box. 1

WEPs Tool Kit

This guidance note forms part of a toolkit to help
companies implement the Women’s Empowerment
Principles (WEPs). It illustrates the barriers that womenface in accessing leadership roles and board seats,
the benefits of board diversity and the many strategies
that companies have taken to secure parity on boards
and ensure that women’s perspectives and talents
are equally valued in decision-making. It specificallyaims to support WEPs signatories in prioritizing andestablishing high-level corporate leadership for genderequality (Principle 1) as well as in proactively recruiting
and appointing women to executive positions andto the corporate board of directors (Principle 2).
For further guidance on how to promote genderequality and women’s empowerment in the workplace,marketplace and community, visit www.weps.org

1

THE ROLE OF THE BOARD IN DRIVING GENDER
EQUALITY AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENTThe board is the governing body of a company, and its
elected members – the board of directors – represent thecompany’s shareholders.6 Every public company must havea board of directors,7 as it creates a separation between thecompany’s owners and managers.
While governance structures differ across companies,
many of them have adopted a two-tier corporate hierarchy
with inside board Directors – high-level managers within
the company – and outside board Directors – recruited toprovide an unbiased perspective to the board.
The board meets regularly to set policies for corporate
management and oversight. 8 It therefore plays a key role insetting the corporate agenda for gender equality andwomen’s economic empowerment in the workplace,marketplace and community. However, neither diversity ofboard members, nor a gender-sensitive boardroom agenda,
will happen on its own. It requires strong leadership andtargeted action to overcome the barriers to women’s accessto leadership roles and board seats. These barriers often fallwithin the realms of supply and demand.
Demand-side obstacles are defined as those influencing
the selection and appointments of women, whether forinternal or external board director positions.14 These obstacles
include upholding the status quo, lack of prioritization ofdiversity in board composition, and are often based on genderstereotypes and perceptions of women’s limited capabilities.15

There are opportunities for companies and organizations
to eliminate demand-side and supply-side barriers byimplementing changes in governance structures andeliminating barriers along the pipeline progression.

Box. 2Barriers to women’s leadership

A key challenge to women’s leadership is genderstereotypes that associate ambition and leadershipwith masculinity and subsequently devalue women’stalents and skills. In fact, research indicates thatwomen across the U.S. often have to provide moreevidence of their competence than men, and Black
women in particular are more to likely to have their
judgment questioned in their area of expertise.9
Stereotypes have resulted in women, particularly
mothers, experiencing disadvantages in hiring andpromotion.10 For every 100 men promoted to, or hired
as managers, only 85 women are promoted or hired.11
Glass ceilings, glass walls and sticky floors have siloed
women into limited roles, particularly entry-level
positions, and continue to block them from climbing
the corporate pipeline and attaining senior leadership
positions.12 At the same time, men are given asignificant advantage when seeking positions above
management level, including senior management, orboard positions.13

Supply-side obstacles are defined as those affecting thepipeline progression of board-ready women.16 These include
the lack of opportunities for female mentorship, sponsorshipand skill-building,17 as well as a lack of whole-life balance
provisions that enable parents and other care givers toprogress in their careers and take on leadership roles.

2

THE BUSINESS CASE
Implementing gender diversity on boards is not only fairand morally correct, it is also a matter of good business.
Building gender equality into the corporate governance andboard leadership translates into tangible success forcompanies. In fact, a study developed by the International
Labour Organization (ILO) found that companies withgender-balanced boards are approximately 20 per cent more
likely to have improved business outcomes.18 Companies
and organizations that implement gender-diverse boards
stand to benefit in several ways.

BETTER DECISION-MAKING
AND IMPROVED GOVERNANCE
Gender equal participation on boards contributes to a diversityof opinion in company-wide decision-making. It eliminateshomogeneous ways of thinking and decision-making, often
referred to as groupthink, and promotes diverse perspectives
and better decision-making.19 Research into gender diversity
on boards finds that having at least three women on
corporate boards enhances innovation. 20 Gender diverse
boards tend to be more active in overseeing the strategic
direction of the company and in reinforcing accountability
through audits and risk management. 21 Diversity has also
positive spin-offs on employee satisfaction, company
productivity and customer satisfaction.
Gender-balanced leadership is also associated with stronger
corporate governance. 22 According to a study of 6,000 U.S.
companies, those with gender-diverse boards outperformed
those whose boards had no women, or only one, and reported
fewer financial reporting restatements, and a lower incidenceof fraud. 23

GUIDANCE NOTE: Building inclusive boards to achieve gender equality

ABILITY TO ATTRACT
AND RETAIN TOP TALENT
Companies with women on their boards are better placed to
attract and retain top talent since they send a strong signalthat they are progressive, recognize merit and provide equal
opportunities for women’s career advancement. 24

BRAND BUILDING AND
ENHANCED CONSUMER INSIGHT
Boards that reflect the diversity of today’s society, and of
consumers, are better placed to understand consumer needs
and preferences, 25 and can subsequently strengthen theirbranding to include a wider consumer base. Women control
around $28 trillion of the world’s annual consumer spending,and account for approximately 70 per cent of global
consumption demand. 26

STRONG CORPORATE PERFORMANCEAND INCREASED PROFITABILITY
Organizations with gender-diverse boards and seniorleadership teams exhibit higher returns on equity, sales,
and capital and, ultimately, stronger financial performance. 27
Evidence indicates that Fortune 500 companies with threeor more women on their boards outperformed similar
companies with lower female representation by an 84 percent greater return on sales, a 60 per cent greater return on
invested capital, and a 46 per cent greater return on equity. 28
Further, ILO data surveying 13,000 enterprises in 70 countries
found that 74 per cent of companies that monitor gender
diversity in management reported profit increases of between
5 per cent and 20 per cent. 29 Research has also shown thatcompanies with more gender-diverse boards of directors
also report significantly lower volatility of return on capital.30

3WHAT CAN COMPANIES DO?
STRUCTURAL GOVERNANCE CHANGESWorking with an external impartial council or monitoring body,
diversity focal points and task forces can:Ensure executive leadership commitment
Commitments by the company’s CEO and Chair are essential
for ensuring that the representation and inclusion of women
on boards is realized.31 Board members are invited to use the
Women’s Empowerment Principles as a framework to tackle
gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in
the workplace, marketplace, and community.

•

Help set key gender representation targets.

•

Ensure that the skills and talents of women from diverse
backgrounds with different identities and abilities are
represented and valued on company boards.

•

Monitor diversity and inclusion goals in order to ensurecompany accountability.

•

Conduct exit interviews with board members to capture
their experience on the board to inform future efforts.

Implement a board diversity policy andappoint diversity and inclusion focal points
A key strategy to embed diversity in the governance of anorganization is through the establishment of a board diversity
policy. 32 This policy can outline company strategies for
ensuring that hiring practices are inclusive and that barriers
along the corporate talent pipeline are eliminated.
To ensure effectiveness, this policy can be coupled withclear monitoring and reporting structures and progress canbe reviewed regularly.
While it is the responsibility of all to abide by corporate
policies and work to advance diversity and inclusion in theworkplace, specific board roles can be established that arededicated to monitoring and evaluating diversity andinclusion, with a focus on senior management positions andboard membership. Companies can create a specializedcommittee to develop diversity criteria and engage
recruitment search firms.
The creation of a committee, task force, or appointmentof a diversity manager signals that an organization or
corporation is committed to equality, and research showsthat appointing diversity managers increases both company
social accountability and the hiring rate of women andother minorities.33

Expand board selection criteria and recruitment channels
Having narrow hiring criteria for board, executive andleadership positions results in a lack of diversity. Public issuers
often seek board members with previous CEO experience,
which reduces the pool of female candidates.34 Rather thansolely recruiting and hiring individuals with past executive
and leadership experience or hiring individuals with skills
that mirror those of the people they are replacing, companies
can focus on competencies and transferrable skills andexperiences. Other strategies to expand the choice ofcandidates include gender-neutral job descriptions,diverse interview panels, and blind résumés.
Traditional recruitment channels also need to be revisitedand a more mixed approach used, such as:•

Traditional media and advertising.

•

Hiring from within the company pipeline.

•

Shareholder referrals.

•

Obtaining suggestions from advocacy organizations.

•

Using executive search firms with an expertise ingender-diverse candidates.

4

Assess leadership effectivenessand maintain transparency
Regular assessments of the board’s effectiveness,the composition of the leadership team and gaps in teamorganization and communication style can help companies
to identify gaps in diversity and implement strategies tosolve them.
The publication of data about how many women sit on theirboards, executive and leadership teams can ensure thatcompanies remain accountable to their employees,
stakeholders and consumer bases.

Institute age and term limits for board members
Age and term limits for board members ensure that there
are regular opportunities for new, diverse, recruitments inboard, leadership and executive positions. This also keeps
companies competitive in the marketplace, and provides anopportunity for qualified women to advance their careers.36
Companies can enhance their boardroom succession planningby monitoring future board vacancies and proactively
determining women who would be a good fit for the role,37
as well as publicly disclosing these practices for transparency.
Forecasting board vacancies means that companies areconstantly looking for new talent to support diverse
recruitment strategies.38

Expand the board table with additional seats
Even with age and term limits, board turnover can still be slow.
The representation of women on boards can be improvedby adding positions, and ensuring that they are filled byqualified women from diverse backgrounds with different
identities and abilities. In fact, data from the Russell 3,000
Index, which represents about 98 per cent of all publicly
traded U.S. companies, indicates that 60 per cent of womenwith board positions took the job when new seats werecreated by expanding boards, not by replacing maledirectors.39

GUIDANCE NOTE: Building inclusive boards to achieve gender equality

MONITORING COMPANY PIPELINES
Conduct company-wide research to identify
and eliminate barriers to female leadership
Companies can start addressing the barriers that limit
women’s advancement by collecting gender statistics andsex-disaggregated data with a focus on intersectionality.
This data, accompanied by clear monitoring and reporting
processes, can enhance the monitoring of women’s
progression along the corporate pipeline, women’s
participation in skill-building opportunities, women’s accessto key projects, and other points to inform policies andprogrammes to eliminate these barriers.

Reject gender stereotyping, engage men as allies
and transform workplace culture
An inclusive workplace culture exists when all employees,
including board members, can generate meaningful change
through ideas, decision-making and performance.40
Promoting a gender-inclusive corporate culture requires thatcompanies eliminate internal gender bias.41 According to a
2019 global study of 13,000 enterprises, approximately
77 per cent of respondents agreed that their corporate culture
mirrors the traditions and social norms of their society.42
This culture is typically male-dominated, resulting in fewer
women on boards and in leadership positions.
To combat gender stereotypes and biases, companies caninstitute mandatory, company-wide training (including
for board members) on unconscious bias and genderstereotyping. Such training engages men as allies andencourages them to recognize and address gender barriers
that limit women from seeking and attaining board
membership.43 Training with an intersectional lens, including
on anti-racism and anti-discrimination, also promotes allyshipfor women from diverse backgrounds with different identities
and abilities. In companies that exhibit smaller genderdisparities in representation, half of all employees hadreceived unconscious bias training in the previous year. 44

5

Provide training, skill development, mentorship, accessto “hot projects”, and sponsorship opportunities

Implement flexible work arrangements
and re-integration strategies

Glass ceilings and walls exist in many workplaces, limiting thepool of eligible women for senior management and internalboard director positions.45 Training, networking andmentorship programmes are effective in developing women’s
skills and leadership abilities and ensure that companies
play an active role in increasing the gender diversity of
their boards.46

To ensure that women with care responsibilities can easily
re-integrate into the workforce and advance along thecorporate pipeline companies can implement paid maternity,
parental leave, and flexible work arrangements. Mothers whowish to remain engaged with the company during leave canbe supported with clear guidelines about what will be
discussed, plus the frequency and mode of communication.51
Further, companies can offer mothers a staggered return,as well as a buddy system to assist them in re-adjusting.52
Companies can also offer skill building and training to ensurethat employees are up to date on new work developments,
such as developments in the fast-paced tech industry,that may have arisen while on leave. Maintaining flexibility
ensures that care responsibilities do not hinder women’sability to rise to executive positions.

To facilitate women’s career progression, companies canencourage workers and employees of all genders to leadprojects that launch the company forward. Women are often
less likely to be given a lead role on the “hot projects” or“hot jobs” that often lead to leadership roles.47 According toa study of 1,660 M.B.A graduates in the US, the projectbudgets allocated to men were more than twice the budgetsof those given to women, and more men than womenreported getting C-Suite visibility while working on suchprojects.48 Therefore, sponsorship49 of women can beparticularly effective when sponsors recommend protégés
for key assignments and thereby contribute to the overall
goal of breaking down gender barriers.50

Paid paternity leave policies can further encourage the equal
distribution of care work between men and women. In fact,a study of 22,000 companies across 91 countries found astrong correlation between offering paternity leave and anincreased share of board seats held by women. 53 Companies
can provide paid paternity leave to encourage the equal
uptake of care responsibilities between parents and allow
women to return to work sooner if they wish.

DRIVING CHANGE BY TAKING A STAND
Progress in the recruitment of women into boards andexecutive leadership roles can, in some cases, be credited tothe development of shareholder activism, where company
shareholders use their equity stake to push for gender parityand diversity.54

Investors themselves can push for diversity on boards byholding back investments from companies who do not havegender diversity, while some have begun strategically funding
those companies that strive for gender balance and parity
on boards. 55

6Box. 3

Investing in women on boards - shareholder activism and gender lens investing

BNP Paribas Asset Management has established a proxy voting system to support enhanced board diversity acrossthe firms in the company’s portfolio.56 This system opposes all male director candidates in an investee company ifthere are no women on its board worldwide. 57 Beginning in 2020 across Europe, North America, Australia and New
Zealand, the company announced it expected a minimum of 30 per cent of women on the boards of companies it
holds shares in.58 BNP Paribas Asset Management has committed to analyze companies to check if they respect these
conditions, and will systematically vote against male directors on boards where there are fewer than 20 per centfemale directors.59
During the 2018 G7 Leaders meeting in Charlevoix, Canada, leaders joined forces to launch the 2X Challenge, aimed atincreasing access to finance for women-owned, women-led and women-supporting enterprises in developing andemerging countries.60 Through the challenge, $2.47 billion has already been committed to support projects thatempower women as entrepreneurs, as business leaders, as employees and as consumers of products and services thatenhance their economic participation.61 One of its criteria is 20 to 30 per cent women in senior leadership or 30 per cent
women on the Board or Investment Committee.62
The Pax Ellevate Global Women’s Leadership Fund engages in gender lens investing, and counts representation of
women company board of directors as a key factor influencing their investing strategy.63

GOVERNMENTS IMPLEMENTINGLEGISLATION FOR CHANGE
A key target outlined in the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action is to create a “critical mass” – at least 30 per cent
women – of women in decision-making to be able to evoke
real and sustainable change. 64 This global goal can beachieved through temporary special measures, such as
targets, that mandate companies to set aside a certain
number of chairs for women until parity has been reached.
It is important to ensure that such efforts are mindful ofintersectionality and are inclusive of women from diverse
backgrounds with different identities and abilities.
Quotas can put an end to the norm of male dominance on
boards and ensure that qualified women are no longer denied
access to management positions because of their gender,
yet these strategies are most effective when coupled withcorporate cultures that respect and value women’s
perspectives to avoid tokenization.

GUIDANCE NOTE: Building inclusive boards to achieve gender equality

State actors can take steps to urge equal representation on
boards by legislating quotas and critical mass strategies forboard membership, as well as mandatory disclosure policies
on board diversity:
Australia: Since 2011, the Australian Securities Exchange(ASX) has required all publicly traded companies to follow
an “if not, why not” model, similar to a “comply or explain”
model to increase the number of women on boards.66
ASX requires companies to make diversity policy information
publicly available, including targets and objectives, or explain
why they have not taken these steps.67 Companies must
annually disclose the proportion of women in the organization,
including women in senior executive positions and womenon the board.68 As a result, women’s representation on publiccompany boards in Australia increased from 10.7 per cent in2010 to 22.7 per cent in 2016.69

7

Canada: The Quebec Government legislation requires equal
representation of women and men on corporate boards ofCrown Corporations.70 Board parity was achieved in 2011 in
22 of the Crown Corporations covered by the legislation
shortly after it was passed.71 As of 1 January 2020, Federal
law requires Canadian corporations to disclose, at minimum,
the number of women, Indigenous people, individuals withdisabilities and individuals from minority groups on theirboards, which is then shared with shareholders andCorporations Canada.72
European Union: In 2012, the European Commission
presented a proposal for a directive aiming to ensure a 40
per cent presence of the “underrepresented sex among
the non-executive directors of companies listed on stock
exchanges and by requiring companies with a lower share of
the under-represented sex among the nonexecutive directors
to introduce pre-established, clear, neutrally formulated andunambiguous criteria in selection procedures for thosepositions in order to attain that objective”.73 In 2013,
the European Parliament supported the objective for listedcompanies in the EU to aim for at least 40 per cent of
non-executive directors of the under-represented sex by
January 2020.74 Additional measures were proposed including
stronger penalties, such as exclusion from public tenders,for companies which failed to introduce transparent
appointment procedures.75
France: The Government enacted gender quotas on
corporate boards in 2011, calling successfully for companies
to implement a minimum of 40 per cent visibility of either
gender on boards. 76

Norway: Companies were given until 2008 to implement a
gender quota of 40 per cent women on boards, and were
met with penalties, including the possibility of being shut
down, for non-compliance.79 Since then, Norway has achieved
a significant increase in women’s board representation in thecorporate world to date, with 35.5 per cent women directors
at OBX index companies in 2014, compared to just 6.8 percent for public limited company boards in 2002. 80
United Kingdom: In 2012 the U.K. adopted a “comply or
explain” model for gender disclosure, coupled with alreadyexisting “comply or explain” regulations on board term limits,
specifically regarding the independence of directors who
have served more than nine years. 81 As a result, women’s
representation on FTSE 100 boards more than doubled from2011 to 2015. 82
United States: California recently implemented legislation
requiring publicly held domestic California corporations andforeign corporations headquartered in California to have aminimum of one female board member by the end of 2019,
and a representative number of female board members by
the end of 2021. 83
To implement change, a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder
approach is key along with public-private partnerships thatplaces value on boardroom diversity and prioritizes atransformational agenda for gender equality and women’s
empowerment.

Germany: A gender quota of 30 per cent women on boards
was adopted in 2016, resulting in almost two thirds of thecountry’s companies having boards complying with thistarget. 77 However, although effective in increasing thenumbers, the quota applies only to supervisory or
administrative boards, not executive or management boards.78

8

ENDNOTES
1.

Catalyst, “Report: The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance andGender Diversity” (January 2004). Available at www.catalyst.org/research/
the-bottom-line-connecting-corporate-performance-and-gender-diversity/

2. Deloitte, “Data-driven change Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective”(2019). Available at www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/risk/articles/women-inthe-boardroom-global-perspective.html
3. Deloitte, Missing pieces report: “The 2018 Board Diversity Census of Women And
Minorities on Fortune 500 boards” (2018).
4. Vĕra Jourová, “Gender Balance on Corporate Boards – Europe Is Cracking The
Glass Ceiling”, Fact sheet (European Commission, July 2016).
5. Cities studied were: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Hamilton,
London, and Ottawa. Akalya Atputharajah, Wendy Cukier, Henrique Hon, Ruby
Latif, and Harryharan Parameswaran, “Diversity Leads: Diverse Representationin Leadership: A Review of Eight Cities Across Canada” (2020). Available at:https://www.ryerson.ca/diversity/reports/DiversityLeads_2020_Canada.pdf(accessed 10 September 2020).

25. Conference Board of Canada, “The business case for women on boards”.
26. ILO, ”Women On Boards, Building The Female Talent Pipeline”.
27. Government of Canada, Status of Women Canada, “Women on Boards: A
Competitive Edge”. (2016). Available at: https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/abu-ans/wwad- cqnf/
wldp/wb-ca/booklet-en.html#:~:text=Having%20women%20on%20boards%20
fosters,and%20capitalizing%20on%20innovative%20opportunities.&text=Having%20both%20women%20and%20men,experiences%20to%20the%20boardroom%20table.
28. Lois Joy, Nancy M. Carter, Harvey M. Wagner, and Sriram Narayanan, “Report:
The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women’s Representation on Boards(2004–2008)” (Catalyst, 2011). Available at www.catalyst.org/research/thebottom-line-corporate-performance-and-womens-representation-on-boards-2
004-2008/.
29. ILO, “The Business Case for Change”.
30. Johan Trocmé and Ellen Benktander, “Diversity as a Value Driver” (Nordea, 2018).
Available at www.nordea.com/Images/33-250321/Diversity_as_a_value_driver.pdf

6. James Chen, “Board of Directors (B of D)” (Investopedia, July, 2020). Availableat www.investopedia.com/terms/b/boardofdirectors.asp

31. Conference Board of Canada, “The business case for women on boards”.

7. Ibid.

32. Akalya Atputharajah, and others, “Diversity Leads: Diverse Representation in
Leadership: A Review of Eight Cities Across Canada”.

8. Ibid.
9. Lean In, “Women In the Workplace 2018, Everyday discrimination andmicroaggressions” (2018). Available at https://leanin.org/women-in-the-workplacereport-2018/everyday-discrimination-microaggressions
10. ILO, “Global Wage Report 2018/19: What Lies Behind Gender Pay Gaps”, (Geneva,2018). Available at www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/--publ/documents/publication/wcms_650553.pdf; See also the WEPs GuidanceNote on “Attracting and Retaining Talent through Inclusive Family-Friendly Policies”.
Available at: www.weps.org/resource/attracting-and-retaining-talent-throughinclusive-family-friendly-policies
11. Sarah Coury, Jess Huang, Ankur Kumar, Sara Prince, Alexis Krivkovich, andLareina Yee, “Women in the Workplace 2020”. (McKinsey, 2020). Available at:https://wiw-report.s3.amazonaws.com/Women_in_the_Workplace_2020.pdf
12. International Labour Organization “Gaining Momentum in the Middle East andNorth Africa” (2016). Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--arabstates/---ro-beirut/documents/publication/wcms_446101.pdf
13. Sarah Coury and others, “Women in the Workplace 2020”.

33. Gender and the Economy, “The Debate About Quotas” (n.d.). Available at www.
gendereconomy.org/the-debate-about-quotas/
34. Canadian Gender and Good Governance Alliance, “Director’s Playbook” (2017).
Available at: https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/df49ced3/files/uploaded/
CGGGA_Playbook_10.2017_EN.PDF
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Joanna Barsh, Sandra Nudelman, and Lareina Yee, “Lessons from the leading edgeof gender diversity” (2013). Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/businessfunctions/organization/our-insights/lessons-from-the-leading-edge-of-genderdiversity
38. Akalya Atputharajah, and others, “Diversity Leads: Diverse Representation in
Leadership: A Review of Eight Cities Across Canada”.
39. Anne Stych, “Women’s representation on boards reaches a milestone” (2019).
Available at: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2019/
09/womens-representation-on-boards-reaches-a.html?page=all

14. Deloitte, “Research Report Toward Gender Parity: Women On Boards Initiative”(Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, Office for
Women. 2016).

40. ILO, ”The Business Case For Change”.

15. Ibid.

42. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

43. Melissa Alaimo, “Creating Stronger Business and a Stronger Canada ThroughBetter Gender Balance”.

17. Ibid.
18. International Labour Organization, “The Business Case for Change.” (Geneva, 2019).
Available at www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/
documents/publication/wcms_700953.pdf
19. Melissa Alaimo, “Creating Stronger Business and a stronger Canada through better
gender balance”. (n.d.). Available at: https://30percentclub.org/assets/uploads/30_
Percent_Club_White_Paper_-_FINAL_-_ENG.PDF

41. Ibid.

44. Defined as companies with the highest ratio of manager-level to entry-level
women’s representation. Jess Huang, Alexis Krivkovich, Irina Starikova, Lareina
Yee, and Delia Zanoschi, “Women in the Workplace 2019”. (2019). Available at:https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Gender%20Equality/Women%20in%20the%20Workplace%202019/Women-in-theworkplace-2019.pdf
45. ILO, ”Women On Boards, Building The Female Talent Pipeline”.

20. Ibid.

46. Ibid.

21. Conference Board of Canada, “The business case for women on boards” (2016).
Available at www.empowerwomen.org/en/resources/documents/2016/1/thebusiness-case-for-women-on-boards?lang=en.

47. Christine Silva, Nancy M. Carter, and Anna Beninger, “Good Intentions, Imperfect
Execution? Women Get Fewer Of The ‘Hot Jobs’ Needed To Advance” (Catalyst,2012). Available at: www.catalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Good_
Intentions_Imperfect_Execution_Women_Get_Fewer_of_the_Hot_Jobs_
Needed_to_Advance.pdf

22. Melissa Alaimo, “Creating Stronger Business and a Stronger Canada ThroughBetter Gender Balance”.
23. Aida Sijamic Wahid, “Gender-diverse corporate boards reduce financial misconduct:
U of T study” (University of Toronto, 2020). Available at www.utoronto.ca/news/
gender-diverse-corporate-boards-reduce-financial-misconduct-u-t-study
24. Government of Canada, Status of Women Canada, “Women on Boards: A
Competitive Edge” (n.d.) Available at https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/abu-ans/wwad-cqnf/
wldp/wb-ca/booklet-en.html.

GUIDANCE NOTE: Building inclusive boards to achieve gender equality

48. Ibid.
49. Sponsorship differs from mentorship in that a mentor simply offers advice andguidance, while a sponsor takes an active interest in another person’s career andadvocates for their career development. See further Melissa Alaimo, “Creating
Stronger Business and a Stronger Canada through Better Gender Balance”.
50. Ibid.

9

51. Engineers Canada and Geoscientists Canada, Managing Transitions: Before, During
and After Leave (n.d.). Available at https://engineerscanada.ca/sites/default/files/
Managing-Transitions-en.pdf

66. Catalyst, “Gender diversity on boards in Canada: recommendations for accelerating
progress” (Catalyst, 2019). Available at: www.catalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/
2019/01/gender_diversity_on_boards_in_canada_final_pdf_version.pdf

52. Avra Davidoff and others, “Making it Work: How to Effectively Manage Maternity
Leave Career Transitions: An Employer’s Guide” (Ceric, 2016). Available athttps://ceric.ca/resource/making-work-effectively-manage-maternity-leavecareer-transitions-employers-guide/

67. Ibid.
68. Ibid.

53. Women Deliver, ”Balancing the Power Equation Women’s Leadership in Politics,
Businesses, and Communities” Policy brief (September 2018). Available at
http://womendeliver.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Women-LeadershipPolicy-Brief-9.23.18.pdf

70. Library of Parliament, “Women’s Representation on Corporate Boards in Canada,”
Hill Notes (2015). Available at https://hillnotes.ca/2015/03/05/womens-represen
tation-on-corporate-boards-in-canada/

54. Forbes, “Shareholder activism pivots to gender” (March 2019). Available at:www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2019/03/07/shareholder-activismpivots-to-gender/#6da98aad8b93
55. Ibid.
56. Jane Ambachtsheer, “Getting on board with diversity: Happy International
Women’s Day!” (Investors’ Corner, 2020). Available at: https://investors-corner.
bnpparibas-am.com/investing/getting-on-board-with-diversity-happyinternational-womens-day/

69. Ibid.

71. Ibid.
72. Government of Canada, “Diversity disclosure for boards of directors and senior
management comes into force”, (Ottawa, 2019). Available athttps://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs08317.html
73. European Commission, “Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council
on improving the gender balance among non-executive directors of companies
listed on stock exchanges and related measures”(Brussels, 2012). Available athttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0614:FIN:en:PDF

58. Ibid.

74. European Parliament, “Gender Balance on Boards” (2020). Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-area-of-justice-and-fundamentalrights/file-gender-balance-on-boards

59. Ibid.

75. Ibid.

60. 2X Challenge Financing for Women, “2X Challenge: G7 development financeinstitutions commit and mobilize close to $2.5 billion to global women’s economic
empowerment” (August 2019). Available at: www.2xchallenge.org/press-news/
2019/8/23/2x-challenge-g7-development-finance-institutions-mobilize-close-to25-billion-to-global-womens-economic-empowerment

76. Aviva Wittenberg-Cox, “France’s Gender Balance Paradox”(Forbes, 2019).
Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2019/05/20/
frances-gender-balance-paradox/#5051526f15ac

57. Ibid.

61. Ibid.
62. 2X Challenge Financing for Women, “Criteria” (n.d.). |Available at: https://www.2xchallenge.org/criteria
63. Pax Ellebvate, “Gender Lens Investing Brochure” (n.d.). Available at:https://impaxam.com/assets/pdfs/brochures/gender-lens-investing.pdf
64. United Nations, “Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”, The Fourth World
Conference on Women (September, 1995). Available at www.unwomen.org/en/
digital-library/publications/2015/01/beijing-declaration
65. Güler Turan, “Why quotas work for gender equality” (2015). Available at:https://oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/4891/Why_quotas_work_for_gender_equality.html

77. ILO, “The Business Case for Change.”
78. Ibid.
79. Catalyst, “Gender diversity on boards in Canada: recommendations foraccelerating progress”.
80. Ibid.
81. Ibid.
82. Ibid.
83. Brooke E Condran, “New California Law Imposing Gender Diversity on Boards of
Publicly Held Corporations Raises Constitutional Awareness.” (GreenbergTraurig,2018). Available at: www.gtlaw.com/en/insights/2018/10/new-california-lawimposing-gender-diversity-on-boards-of-publicly-held-corporations-raises

10Promoting Economic Empowerment of Women at Work through Responsible Business Conduct in G7 Countries(WE EMPOWER—G7 Programme) is funded by the European Union (EU) and jointly implemented with the International
Labour Organization (ILO). The Programme (2018-2020) will convene stakeholder dialogues in the EU, Canada, Japan andthe US to exchange knowledge, experiences, good practices and lessons learned in the context of the changing world ofwork. Under the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), WE EMPOWER is working to equip companies to go beyond
making commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment, to strengthening their implementation, datacollection and reporting on the WEPs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
This guidance note was prepared by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women(UN Women) as part of the WE EMPOWER – G7 programme funded by the European Union and jointly implemented with
the ILO. The brief was led by Stephanie Dei and Nancy Mitchell with substantive contributions from Anna Fälth, Stephenie
Foster, Magali Gay-Berthomieu and Carla Kraft of UN Women; Laura Addati of the ILO; Beatrix Dart of the University of Toronto;
Jessica Grounds of Pepperdine University; Françoise Higson of the 30% Club UK; Irene Natividad of GlobeWomen Inc.;and Michiko Tadamatsu of the 30% Club Japan.
DISCLAIMER:
This guidance note was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the United Nations and their member States.
Edit: Proseworks
Graphic / Editorial Design: Oliver Gantner

GUIDANCE NOTE: Building inclusive boards to achieve gender equality

11

weps.org@WEPrinciples
empowerwomen.org@Empower_Women

Funded by:

Principle 1

Establish high-level corporate leadershipfor gender equality.

Principle 2

Treat all women and men fairly at work– respect andsupport human rights and nondiscrimination.

Principle 3

Ensure the health, safety and well-being of
all women and men workers.

Principle 4

Promote education, training and professional
development for women.

Principle 5

Implement enterprise development, supply chain
and marketing practices that empower women.

Principle 6

Promote equality through community initiatives
and advocacy.

Principle 7

Measure and publicly report on progressto achieve gender equality.

Produced by:

In support of: