Family Businesses Provide More Board Seats for Women
Family-owned businesses in the U.S. are ahead of the corporate world in the representation of women on their boards.
According to a 2013 Deloitte report, Perspectives on family-owned businesses – Governance and succession planning, there are 5.5 million family-owned businesses in the US. They surveyed 222 family-owned businesses for the report. Approximately 70% of the respondents have revenues of $100 million or more and 25% have revenues of $500 million or more.
Of these companies, three-quarters of family-owned firms have a formal board of directors. Of those reporting, 11 percent had boards comprised of 41-50% women and 16 percent have 31-40% women board members. Contrast that to the 2013-14 UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders that showed that in the top 400 public companies in California, women hold only 11% of all board seats, and 40% of these companies have no women directors.
Opportunities for non-family board members range significantly, but consideration of a family-owned company may be a good route for women interested in serving on a board. Below is a detailed chart from the Deloitte report.
