Female Executives Around The World

The number of female executives inhabiting a corporate board room varies widely around the world. The reasons it varies are sometimes cultural and sometimes a matter of law. In Norway 40% of the execs at major corporations are female nowadays. They have to be by law. In 2002 the Norwegian Parliament passed a law mandating this figure to their corporate world and gave them 6 years in which to comply. Its been a success. So much so that other European countries are following suit. Spain has introduced a similar law now and has given their corporations until 2015 to meet the same 40% figure for female employment. France is looking to do the same but has not put anything into law yet. These laws are in response to a long standing practice in corporations around the world to under represent women in board rooms. In some countries women make up the majority of the population yet have been almost totally shut out of the business hierarchy. In some parts of the world it is worse than in others. In the U.S. women make up about 15% of the corporate population. In the European Union they only currently make up less than 10%. In Asia it is the lowest at under 5%.