More women broke the glass ceiling in the corporate world ascending the ladder with plum posts in listed companies in Singapore last year, a study shows.
The findings from a just published study conducted by the Council for Board Diversity (CBD) reveal women accounted for nearly 40 per cent of all new director appointments made by statutory boards and the largest Singapore Exchange (SGX) listed companies last year.
Loh Boon Chye, Co-Chair of the CBD and chief executive of SGX Group speaks about large companies and statutory boards' thrust to diversify their boards to strengthen their capability.
This emphasis has upped the proportion of women directors to its highest levels since the CBD was established in 2019.
“With the business environment changing at a much faster pace than before, diversity of thought on a board has come to the fore as organisations seek to capitalise on new opportunities and navigate challenges,” Chye said.
A record 36 per cent of appointments last year were women directors, which CBD noted may have been influenced by companies responding to SGX Regulation’s (SGX RegCo) requirements for greater disclosure on board diversity policy since January 2022.
SGX RegCo had required issuers to set a board diversity policy that addresses gender, skill and experience, and other relevant aspects of diversity. Issuers must also describe the board diversity policy and details such as diversity targets, plans, timelines, and progress in their annual reports.
Among the top 100 listed companies, 26 had at least 30 per cent of women's participation on their boards in end-2022, an improvement from 18 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the number of companies with all-male boards fell to 13 in end-2022, down from 17 previously.
Of the top 100 companies, seven had gender-balanced boards – defined as having 40 to 60 per cent of board seats held by women or men. Far East Hospitality Trust had an equal number of men and women directors as at end-2022, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, Singapore Post and Sats were among those with at least 40 per cent of WOB.
For the broader pool of all SGX-listed companies, women’s participation on boards also improved to 14.6 per cent in end-2022 from 13.5 per cent a year earlier. However, 42 per cent still had all-male boards, only slightly better than the 45 per cent in end-2021. The largest listed companies have crossed CBD’s first leg target of having 20 per cent WOB, with the next target to have 25 per cent WOB by end-2025.
Mildred Tan, the co-chair of the CBD and chair of Singapore Totalisator Board, noted that the government’s commitment to diversify statutory boards in various aspects – including skills, gender, and race – “has gained significant traction”.
“This demonstrates that diversity on boards is a growing necessity for organisations to thrive in today’s environment and is achievable when there is a concerted effort to make it a priority,” she said.
Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing said: “With greater diversity in demographics, experience, and skill sets, there will be more robust discussions and decisions, taking into account a wider range of perspectives, to benefit Singapore and Singaporeans.”