Babes On Bay Street

The answer to this question is at the same time simple and yet complex. My simple answer as to why there are not more women on boards would be that a prejudice against women in the senior ranks of business persists despite efforts to raise awareness and motivate change. I found the quote of the CEO of Revera in the  Globe article to be quite telling. He opines that the talent pool for women directors is enormous and yet just two of his 11 board directors are women. There is no question there are plenty of well qualified, talented women who would be brilliant board candidates. The dearth suggests to me that women are failing to make the necessary connections in order to break into the long standing network of men. And even when connections are made, it would appear that many man are simply more comfortable having familiar male faces around the board room table. The complex issue is how to change this. I am not a fan of quotas. I would hate to see women appointed to boards based on their gender and not on their qualifications. It seems to me I see this same story each year, about how little progress is being made in increasing the number of capable women on Canadian boards. The pace of change appears to be glacial and perhaps generational.