The number of women on the boards of companies based in Scandinavian countries has surged ahead of the rest of Europe thanks to those countries’ proactive policies to increase female representation, found a study by the European Professional Women’s Network.
Norway maintained its leading position, having women in 28.8% of board seats – up from 22% last year – followed by Sweden (22.8%), Finland (20%) and Denmark (17.9%).
However, the second EuropeanPWN BoardWomen Monitor survey found female representation stagnating across the rest of Europe. Women now hold 8.5% of boardroom seats across Europe – small progress on the 8% recorded in 2004 – although the proportion of companies with at least one woman on the board has increased over the past two years from 62% to 67.8%.
Of those countries outside Scandinavia, the UK leads with 86% of companies having at least one woman on the board and 11.4% of all board seats being held by women. The laggards are Portugal and Italy, with Spain not far ahead. However, the study noted that Spain has emulated Norway and put before parliament quotas for 40% female representation.
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