Can Gender Quotas Get More Women Into Boardrooms?
While most agree there's a problem, they don't see eye-to-eye on the solution
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Most people agree that there aren’t enough women in corporate boardrooms, but there’s little consensus on the best way to increase numbers and improve director diversity. Some countries use voluntary targets, while others employ tougher (often controversial) legislative measures such as binding quotas to tackle the problem.
In Europe, binding gender quotas are increasingly prevalent. In March, Germany became the latest European country to make quotas mandatory. Starting in 2016, major German companies will need to fill 30 percent of non-executive board seats with women. Germany follows in the footsteps of other European countries such as Norway, Italy, France, and Spain in instituting such a policy.