A few years ago, with the ministry for gender equality and diversity. “That was the beginning of the evolution we are experiencing today. Quotas can be interesting at first to change mentalities, but we shouldn’t still be asking ourselves whether quotas are necessary, women should be able to impose themselves more easily. But we can see that there are still obstacles to women joining boards of directors, and changing attitudes is slow,” laments , president of Femmes Leaders Luxembourg. For the managing director of DS Advisory Services, Elisa Da Silva, currently in discussions for her first mandate, “in Luxembourg we could do things differently. More and more women are being brought to the attention of clients through their networks.”
, CEO of LuxCSD, has a slightly stronger view. “As reflected in certain regulatory requirements, the minimum thresholds encourage greater diversification of boards of directors and strengthen the voice of the under-represented sex.” An advantage, then. Rachel Hamen, senior vice-president of Northern Trust Corporation, has a clear opinion on the matter. “Quotas are absolutely necessary if we want to accelerate the pace of change and force mentalities to evolve, but this must not be at the expense of the quality of the profiles.”
Quotas cannot solve everything, says Ginette Jones, president of the Entente des offices sociaux and vice-president of the Solina Foundation. “Quotas must be accompanied by a consistent commitment on the part of hierarchies to balanced representation of women and men, training on subjects that can encourage better representation, as well as a precise agenda and ongoing evaluation,” insists the woman who is also a member of the Post Group board.
Simone Delcourt, who has held various directorships in the past, suggests a different approach. “We should be talking about a quota for the under-represented sex. What’s more, it's important to have board members who meet the criteria of experience and qualifications. If two people of the opposite sex meet these criteria and are equivalent, the choice should be made in favour of the person of the under-represented sex.”
Parity to be achieved by 2038, says Deloitte Global
In its , Deloitte Global has analysed the situation in some fifty countries, with the support of Deloitte Luxembourg for local data. Published in spring 2024, it offers the advantage of “being able to compare and benchmark ourselves against what is happening at international level. What’s interesting about this report is that it really gives trends and allows us to see real improvement,” explains Sandrine Muller, audit & assurance partner and diversity, equity & inclusion leader at Deloitte Luxembourg. The situation varies from country to country, and is often closely linked to the policies in place.
The report looks in particular at how long it would take to achieve parity at the current pace. Looking at the situation in 2018, Deloitte Global predicted parity by 2052. “Finally, in 2023, we took a step back in time and we estimate that parity will be reached in 2038. We’ve gained a few years, although we still can’t be satisfied with that. But we hope to gain another ten years or so when we publish the next study,” says Muller.
One of the trends that emerges clearly from the report concerns government action, “which is having a fairly obvious effect. We’re talking here about countries that have introduced some form of quota in their legislation, like France for example. In these countries, we are seeing a better representation of women in boardrooms. One glaring fact is that five of the six countries with the highest percentages of women in boardrooms are countries that have introduced quotas. And we’re talking here about quotas ranging from 33% to 40%, so we’re not even at 50% parity yet,” Muller points out.
A catalyst for change
Whether you are for or against these quotas, they are often seen as an “accelerator of change,” and the Deloitte Global study shows that they are producing concrete effects, without analysing the consequences that they may engender, because “overall, these are new laws and we are perhaps lacking a bit of hindsight,” she continues.
One of the pitfalls of a shortage of female candidates would be to have women sitting on a large number of boards. “The fear would be to say, we need women on a board, so we’re always going to look for the same woman we already know, without giving the chance to other people who might have potential.” Deloitte Global has also attempted to analyse this phenomenon in its report.
“We have introduced a coefficient called the ‘stretch factor,’ by country. Its purpose is to quantify the number of seats that a man or a woman would have on boards. But we find that, in the end, in countries where there are quotas, this stretch factor is not necessarily higher. The higher the stretch factor, the greater the number of seats held by the same director in a given market. In Luxembourg, the stretch factor is fairly balanced: 1.03 for women and 1.02 for men.”
Luxembourg is fully comparable with its neighbouring countries, but there are real differences with countries such as France, which have introduced quotas.
According to the Deloitte Global report*, “Luxembourg is comparable to its neighbouring countries, but there are real differences with countries such as France, which have introduced quotas.” According to data collected from 40 Luxembourg companies, only 5.6% of board members are women. Of the 40 companies analysed, 61 seats were filled by women. Women are most heavily represented in technology, media and communications (30.2%) and industry (22.1%).
In France, for example, progressive quotas for parity on boards have been in place since the enactment of the Copé-Zimmermann law in 2011: 20% in 2014 and 40% from 2017. Since 2018, the proportion of seats held by women has risen from 37.2% to 44%, and the proportion of women chairwomen has even doubled: from 5.5% to 12.4%.
In Belgium, quotas have also been set since 2011, at around 33.3%. Since 2021, the target has been exceeded, with 34.9% of women on boards in 2021 and 38% in 2023.
In Germany, the 30% quota for women has also been slightly exceeded (31.3% in 2023), but has had little effect on chairwomen's seats, where women accounted for 4.2% in 2018 and 4.7% in 2024.
The top five countries where women are most represented on boards are France (44%), Norway (43.3%), Italy (40.4%), Belgium (38%) and New Zealand (36.3%). Of these five countries, the top four have introduced quotas.
Conversely, the countries where women are least represented on boards are Qatar (1.5%), Saudi Arabia (2.8%), Kuwait (6.2%), Argentina (7.5%) and South Korea (8.8%).
Quotas aside, other solutions can encourage greater parity in decision-making bodies. In Australia, for example, the political sphere has opted instead for targets and the principle of voluntary disclosure. Since 2014, the proportion of women on boards has risen from 15% to 34%.
*The data published in this article is taken from the Deloitte Global study, based on data collected by the firm in its sample. They are not an exhaustive reflection of the situation, but provide an overview of trends.
This article was originally published in .