Women on Boards - US lags behind

On a related note, a friend of mine provided this snippet about women on European boards...

Norway is a land of strong female figures. So it seemed natural, when Norway passed a law in 2003 requiring companies to fill 40% of their board sets with women by 2008. The country has met the goal. Some companies were less than enthusiastic so the law did include a big stick. Companies could be shut down for not complying. Spain has followed Norway's lead. Its parliament has passed a law calling for 40% board participation by women by 2015. However, Spain's law does not have the enforcement measures included in the Norwegian law. In the Netherlands, an organization called TopBrainstorm is preparing a voluntary charter for companies to sign. Companies would be committing to targets for getting women into senior executive positions to make it possible for them to become board candidates. And in Britain, 123 women hold 11% of the board seats on FTSE 100 companies. Twenty percent (20%) of new FTSE 100 director appoints went to women in 2007. (The New York Times, 22-Mar-2008, National ed., p. C4)

Compare this to the figures in 100 Facts on the Status of Working Women: the total number of women holding board seats in 2003 was 779, up from 735 in 2001. (If we assume 12 members per Fortune 500, this is approximatelyl 7 percent.) It is estimated that in 20 years, women will still not be one-quarter of boards of directors if the current rate of change remains constant.

The title of a recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Carol Hymowitz says it all "On Diversity, America isn't Putting Its Money Where Its Mouth Is."