Why women aren’t applying for Board Positions?

Gender diversity initiatives, such as government reviews, recommendations and draft legislation in the EU, seem to be having a positive effect on the number of women sitting on UK boards. In 2010, women accounted for less than 12% of FTSE 100 board members. As at April this year it was 39.9% – FTSE 100, 38.4% – FTSE 250 and 38.8% FTSE 350. Even with these encouraging statistics, it appears that women aren’t applying for board positions. Unlike their male colleagues, what could be holding women back?

Is it true that women are less likely to apply for board roles?

The LinkedIn Gender Insights Report examined the job search behaviour of its users in great detail.  They found that despite viewing the same number of jobs and just as many company pages, women:

• • were 16% less likely to apply for positions they had viewed on LinkedIn
  • apply to 20% fewer vacancies than men do,
  • are less likely to apply for positions that were more senior than their current position
    are more hesitant to ask for a referral from somebody they know at the company

Although these statistics are general, with an estimate of at least 25 % of its members being C executives and higher, it is fairly safe to say that these statistics can be applied when concluding that women aren’t applying for board positions in the same numbers as men.

Why boards need more women on them

Aside from the issues of DEI, having women in board positions has a positive effect on organisations. The Board Diversity and Effectiveness in the FTSE 350 Companies report found that diversity on UK boards has resulted in better financial performance, higher stock returns and less shareholder dissent. In addition, having female board members helps organisations attract, retain and encourage top female talent. 

Studies by Catalyst found that gender-diverse boards :

• • outperform non-diverse boards in Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) activities.
  • are more likely than men to identify social issues like human rights, climate change, and income inequality as critical to corporate strategy.
  • tend to adopt more progressive organisational management practices, which increase employee satisfaction and retention.
  • are involved in fewer financial reporting mistakes, and controversial business practices such as fraud and earnings manipulation
  • have more effective risk management practices

Why Women Aren’t Applying for Board Positions

In a survey published in the Harvard Business Review, a thousand men and women were asked why they did not apply for a job where they did not meet all the qualifications; they got the following reactions:

• • I didn’t think they would hire me since I didn’t meet the qualifications, and I didn’t want to waste my time and energy: Women 41% – Men 46%
  • I was being respectful of the time and preferences of the person reviewing applications – they had already made clear who they were looking for: Women 13% – Men 20%
  • I didn’t think they would hire me since I didn’t meet the qualifications, and I didn’t want to put myself out there if I was likely to fail: Women 22% – Men 12%
  • I didn’t think I could do the job well: Women 9% – Men 12%
  • I was following the guidelines about who should apply: Women 15% – Men 9%

The 100% qualified theory? A Hewlett Packard internal report that has now been quoted in dozens of articles suggests that to apply for a role, women feel they need to meet 100% of the criteria, while men usually apply after meeting about 60%.

Based on this theory, women don’t apply for board positions because they believe they lack the qualifications required for the role. They believe they are unlikely to get the appointment and do not want to waste their time and effort in doing so. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to overestimate their experience and qualifications. Men are confident about their ability at 60%.

There are also many studies to suggest that girls are taught to follow the rules much more than boys. As a result, women are more likely to strictly follow the guidelines. Most board vacancies will stipulate a concise list of selection criteria. Women are less likely to apply for the role if they can not confidently address each and every one of them.

Imposter Syndrome? By definition, imposter syndrome is the feeling that you’re a fraud; in your field, life, and professional career and that your achievements have been based solely on luck, not your hard work, knowledge, skills, experience, or intelligence. Many high-achieving women don’t feel they deserve their success and compare themselves to their peers. Whereas men rate their performance significantly higher than equally performing women.

Women will spend years building their experience and accomplishments before they consider themselves to be credible board candidates. They also find it difficult to articulate their achievements and value at board level.

Is it a matter of confidence? In general, women believe that they are capable and would perform well in a board role. However, they lack the confidence to apply or put themselves forward for consideration.

Although changing, society’s attitudes and expectations have made women more tentative when applying for senior roles, including board roles. Women are more likely to undersell their achievements and less likely to self-promote. A UK study from Fidelity International suggests that women are less likely to put themselves forward for promotions in the first place, with only 30% ever asking for a promotion.

Women don’t talk up their potential and self-promote as their male colleagues do. We still work and live in a culture of double standards. If a woman self-promotes, she may be viewed as aggressive and violating the expectations of female passiveness. Whereas if male self-promotion is an accepted norm and even aspiring. For women, it is often safer to avoid attempts at self-promotion, saving them from any unwanted backlash that may arise from it.

The risk of failure? In the same Harvard Business Review survey quoted above, it was also found that 22% of women who responded admitted to not submitting an application because they did not want to put themselves out there if they were likely to fail. For them, the risk of failure was simply too big. There is some evidence that women’s failures are remembered longer than that of their male counterparts. Men often cope with failure by attributing it to external conditions. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to take it personally.

Emotional Intelligence? Emotional intelligence, or EI, is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people. Women, by nature, have higher EI.

Emotional intelligence is associated with 5 traits: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empath and social skills. EI is becoming a must-have skill for all levels of management and is recognised as a key element in the performance of board directors. However, when it comes to why women don’t apply for board positions, two of the traits, self-awareness and self-regulation, could be holding women back.

Back yourself – the statistics support you

A common thread in most of these scenarios is that women don’t apply for board positions because women are failing to self-promote themselves. It’s time to step up, take some risks and get out of your comfort zone. Separate feelings from facts and articulate the facts in your board pitch. Don’t strive for perfection, as this is likely to be an unrealistic goal that will deflate your confidence.

If you find a role that you are passionate about, Put an application forward even if you don’t meet all the key criteria. You can be assured that there will be many male applications in the same boat. More organisations appoint people to their boards, not based on their qualifications but because they are convinced that the person can do the job. So, go for it even if you think you lack the right qualifications. Learn how to position yourself and articulate why you are the person for that board role.

Good luck!