The number of women with executive positions on the boards of Dutch companies has fallen for the second year running, leaving many of them short of the targets set by the Netherlands government and the EU, according to the Dutch Female Board Index 2017.
The index, published by Dutch business school TIAS, shows that women accounted for only 6.2% of executive directors on the boards of the 85 companies listed on the Dutch stock exchange. This is down from 7.1% last year and 7.8% in 2015.
Although the percentage of companies with a female director (either executive or non-executive/supervisory) increased to 79% from 72% last year, the publisher of the index said that this was solely caused by companies appointing their first non-executive director. The number of companies with a female executive director dropped to 14% from 17%.
In the Netherlands, the government has set a target for women to make up 30% of directors for both boards by 2020. This contrasts with EU legislation for a minimum of 40% of females on company boards.
Only two companies comply with both the Dutch quota law and the EU quota law, while nine are in compliance with the Dutch target with regard to their executive board, and 30 if the number of women on the supervisory board is also taken into account.
The index also shows the breakdown of female quotas by nationality. Of the total number of directors (women and men), 75% are Dutch. The percentage of foreigners among female directors is much higher. The index shows that 46% of female executive directors are not Dutch, compared with 24% of male executives.