Women urged to get out of “pink ghettos” to boost board numbers

The number of women on boards and in senior leadership positions is not likely to increase until women exit the “pink ghettoes” of human resources and procurement for operational roles, according to one executive.

BAE Systems director of Land and Integrated Systems Kim Scott told a forum on gender equity that women comprise just 2% of its engineering staff, but 65% of its HR department.

“It’s often termed the ‘pink ghettos’, where women tend to congregate,” Scott told the forum, according to a reports.

“Until you get women in operational positions, I don’t think you’re going to see a significant change in some of those boards.”

Scott added: “Focus on the male population as much as the female population to change it.”

Dr Diann Rodgers-Healy, executive director of the Australian Centre for Leadership for Women, agrees with Scott’s commentary on women, adding that the onus is on the senior echelon of a business to embrace the skills of people in traditional fields.

“What he’s pointing to is right, in that women in non-traditional areas such as engineering and finance are favoured,” Rodgers-Healy says.

“But that shouldn’t be the case. Regardless of your background, you need equal opportunity [to progress],” she says.

Labelling the rules for board appointment as “elitist”, Rodgers-Healy says there is “ample evidence that diverse companies with equal number of women in boards, or near equal numbers, contribute to a whole range of economic results, including higher morale, better decision-making and bettter productivity.”

Increasing female board numbers also better represents a company’s workforce and customer base, Rodgers-Healy adds.