According to a recent study released by the Board of Directors Network (BDN), women have made little to no progress on the boards or in the executive suites of Georgia’s public companies.
The Board of Directors Network is a nonprofit research and advisory organization seeking to increase the number of women in executive leadership and on corporate boards.
For the past 17 years, the BDN has been tracking the status of women in corporate boardrooms and executives suites. During that time, the percentage of women named as corporate officers and directors has for the most part remained flat, despite the significant changes among Georgia’s publicly held companies over the years, as some organizations have gone private and others have been acquired.
The 2009 study shows that only 45 percent of Georgia’s 160 public companies have at least one woman on their board — the lowest percentage in seven years. In 2004 and 2007, that percentage was at 49 percent, the highest it’s ever been. The percentage of women-held board seats are: 7.6% in Georgia public companies, 9.7% in Georgia Top 50 public companies, and 15% in Georgia companies in Fortune 500.
Miriam Burgess, BDN’s 2009 president, said, “The lack of progress is very disappointing. Women directors and women officers are good for business.”
The BDN study also reported that among 160 public companies, only two have women as chairs, and only three have women as CEOs, a number that has remained unchanged since 2007.
Rona Wells, BDN’s executive director said, “The pace of change is pretty glacial. Unless we do something different, it’s going to stay at the pace we are in adding and losing women directors. It’s not ever going to move a whole lot.”
Sources: Board of Directors Network (www.boarddirectorsnetwork.org) and Atlanta Business Chronicle (October 23, 2009)
Colleen Reyerson is an Executive Resume Writer in Atlanta, GA. She is one of only 12 Certified Expert Resume Writers (CERW) in the U.S., and the sole CERW in the state of Georgia. Colleen is Managing Director of Executive Resumes Atlanta (www.ExecutiveResumesAtlanta.com), an Atlanta, GA executive resume writing service specializing in career marketing documents for senior-level job seekers. Executive Resumes Atlanta is a member of the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.