The presence of women on the boards of directors of companies listed on the Spanish stock market is advancing “unstoppably and exceeds the 30% mark for the first time,” according to IESE professor Nuria Chinchilla, who this Thursday presented the XI Report on Women on the Boards of the Ibex35 and the VI Radiografía del Mercado Continuo, prepared annually by the Atrevia agency and IESE and
Specifically, during 2022, 38 more women sat on the chairs of the boards of directors of Spanish companies than the previous year and there are already 390 in total. This represents a growth of 3.65% compared to the previous year and it reaches a percentage of 32.37% of the total directors. “The progress is more striking if one takes into account the trend, marked by the Good Governance regulations, to reduce the total number of members on the boards of directors to between 5 and 15,” Chinchilla points out.
Among the large companies listed on the Ibex 35, the progress is even greater. During 2022, 14 women joined the boards of those companies that already have an average of 37.47%. “More than half of the Ibex 35 exceeds the recommendation of the Good Governance Code of the CNMV to close 2022 with 40% representation, so that if this pace continues, that objective can be achieved by 2023,” according to those responsible for the report.
This progress in the environment of the boards of directors hits head on when what is analyzed is the presence of women in executive positions. “Executive committees continue to be inaccessible even in the Ibex 35 where there are only 15.47% of women in senior management positions compared to 37.47% who reach their presence on the boards of directors. It is clear that something is happening and it is not a natural evolution”, warned Asunción Soriano, CEO of Atrevia Spain, who accompanied Nuria Chinchilla at the presentation of the study.
Only three women hold presidencies: two as non-executive presidents (Beatriz Corredor at Redeia and Marta Ortega at Inditex), one as executive president (Ana Patricia Botín at Santander) and one as CEO (María Dolores Dancausa at Bankinter).
91.43% of the presidencies of the Ibex 35 are taken over by men (32) compared to 8.57% by women (3). The selective also has 31 CEOs, of which only one is a woman.
The study also reveals that, despite general progress, there are still six companies on the continuous market without any female director (all IBEX 35 companies have at least two), although there are three less than in the previous year. Specifically: Berkeley Energía, Borges, Nextil, Nyesa, Pescanova and Urbas.
On the opposite side, at the head of the companies most committed to gender diversity is Cellenex, with 54.54% women on its board. Followed by Redeia and Realia both with 50%.
