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Women represent just 2.7% of directors of public companies
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Some worry about ‘overboarding’ by same handful of women
”Sakie Fukushima remembers the novelty of being the only woman on Korn/Ferry International’s board of directors, which she joined in 1995. Ditto when she joined the Sony Corp., Kao Corp. and Benesse Corp. boards years later.
Even now, three years after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made increasing women’s participation in the workplace a tenet of his prescription for reviving Japan’s fortunes, the proportion of females on Japanese boards has hardly budged — at around the lowest in the developed world. While companies strive to follow Abe’s lead and narrow the gender gap, there’s a confluence of obstacles so deeply rooted in Japan that overcoming them may take another generation.
“It’s not politically correct anymore to oppose putting women on corporate boards, even in Japan,” said Fukushima, 66, now a director of several companies including Bridgestone Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. “Companies want to put women on their boards. Yet there are not enough candidates among women here, with the board experience needed.”
A new law starting April 1 requires companies with more than 300 workers to publicly disclose data on the number and status of women they employ, including information about women in management……….”
Read full article here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-13/it-s-not-demand-holding-women-back-from-joining-japan-s-boards
Source: Bloomberg Business News
The Board Director Training Institute (BDTI) is a "public interest" nonprofit in Japan dedicated to training about directorship, corporate governance, and related management techniques. It is certified by the Japanese government to conduct these activities as a regulated nonprofit. Read a summary about BDTI here, and see a menu of its services for both corporations and investors here.