Italian Boards Are Clones Which Are Not Open to Diversity

They're men (94% of cases), have graduated from university, have changed cities an average of two times for work reasons before being appointed and, in 45% of cases, have also changed companies three times. They have networking skills that make them visible in circles of connections "that count", both in for-profit and non-profit areas. This is the identikit of the members of the boards of directors at listed Italian companies, according to preliminary results of a study carried out by the Observatory on Diversity Management at SDA Bocconi. The study focused on a sample of 300 résumés of members at companies listed on the Italian stock market, within the project "Ready for Board Women" promoted by PWA Milan (Professional Women's Association). Data, presented today at Bocconi, emphasized that though what matters in order to be recruited for boards of directors seems to be merit-based, these characteristics perpetuate a recruiting system that favors only one traditionally "male" model of career path which is not very open to diversity in profile and skills, thus generating a board of clones. Members therefore seek to choose only people who are like themselves.

The identikit drafted by the study (entitled The Different Facets of Diversity in Boards of Directors) has the objective of mapping board members' skills through their profiles to compare them with those of potential female candidates, selected by a pool of head hunters for the project "Ready for Board Women", a project that aims to promote the presence of women in boards of directors. Through the comparison of profiles of those who are already members (both men and women) and "Ready for" women, interesting aspects emerge. An analysis of board member CVs points out that the characteristics that most affect the possibility of being chosen are an economics/finance degree, age at time of appointment and the presence of a post-graduate degree (though not everyone has one). Other key features are having professional experience in various cities or countries and at various companies and being part of a network of professional and non-profit connections: 45% of the sample of board members changed companies three times before being appointed, 30% were appointed to other boards after the initial recruitment, 20% were appointed at family businesses and 10% were members of a non-profit organization before being appointed. The analysis of "Ready for" women's résumés highlights a substantial alignment with the sample board members' profiles, yet with a few differences. They are on average younger (70% were born after 1960), they demonstrate less mobility, especially in an international environment (they have changed companies an average of twice, moved to a different city twice and have traveled abroad) and 65% have worked in non-profit organizations. In addition, "Ready for" women's education is on average at a higher level (42% have a post-graduate degree), as an investment in education is more widespread. But how should this data be analyzed? "The analysis of board member profiles," say Simona Cuomo and Adele Mapelli, coordinators at the Observatory, "points out that dynamics for including members in boards are characterized by a kind of cloning: people who are already similar and who have skills and experiences that are similar to those already in the board of directors are recruited,." This means that not only are there not many women on the board, but they are recruited if they have similar characters as those of men. It's a "male" recruiting pattern that has several negative aspects. First of all, it is more limiting for women, where emphasis is placed on areas such as mobility experience and networking, which are traditionally less developed in female careers. Most of all, however, it creates very homogeneous groups within boards of directors. Adds Martina Raffaglio, a member of the Observatory's research team, "Due to their lack of diversity, these groups tend to produce mechanisms of groupthink, validating the thinking of the other members of the team so that when they are faced with complex and challenging tasks it can become a disadvantage. A plurality of skills and experiences could increase the effectiveness of the board's decision-making processes." Therefore, low levels of women on boards of directors should not be tackled by looking at numbers alone. Affirmative action for women, which is often discussed, is not the only solution. Simona Cuomo continues, "We need to move the debate from the quantity of women present to the quality of the recruiting mechanisms. The current model of co-optation seeks to default skills connected to finance and accounting, but are these the only skills needed to guarantee an effectively-functioning board? If the pool of qualified candidates used to find future board members were to open to diversity, thus including profiles with skills that focus on marketing, communication, human resources, organization and strategic development (sectors in which women are more present), wouldn't that assure a better performance for the benefit of everyone involved?"