Women at the top: not nearly enough, says Christine Lagarde
Online now at the Financial Times (and not behind their paywall – yet) is a feature listing the top 50 women in world business, see here.
In a related piece, the FT features a five-minute video interview with a woman truly at the top on the world political and economic stage, French finance minister Christine Lagarde (“Lagarde speaks out on female quotas” Nov 16, 2010).
Answering questions from FT editor Lionel Barber, Lagarde acknowledges a recent change of mind about what’s needed for women to move beyond being an endangered species in politics around the world and in company board rooms.
Excerpt:
Barber: And in practical terms, do you favor quotas to strengthen women’s representation on boards?
Lagarde : Well, when I was a lot younger, I was dead against quotas. I thought at the time that, you know, we should be accepted on our own merits and everybody’s terms. But as I’m getting older, I see that it’s moving on too slowly. And I support quota. I support quota in companies. I support quota in the political circles as well. There are not enough women at the top…
Lagarde was in London as a keynote speaker at the FT‘s Women at the top Conference this week. Click on video link above to hear full FT interview. Go here to read more about Lagarde’s speech at the conference.
More women in French boardrooms
This month the French Parliament is debating a bill that would mandate that at least 40 percent of corporate board members are women. Deadline for compliance would be 2016 (“Shaking up the corporate world” France 24, Jan 20, 2010).
France is playing catch up. It now lags far behind some of its European neighbors in regard to more gender balanced board rooms, according to the news video below.
