10 Best Countries for Women on Corporate Boards 2015

As a female-owned Canadian call centre I was particularly interested when I stumbled on this study on the female representation on corporate boards by country to see how the true North ranked. I regularly feature world rankings like  best country to live, the smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best countries for working women, the best country for child well-being, the best countries for higher education, the most popular countries, the least corrupt countries, the countries with the best reputation, the best countries for ease of doing business, the best countries for starting a business, the best country for business, the best country for customer satisfaction, the best countries with the most competitive economies, the best countries for entrepreneurship, the most sustainable countries, the best countries to grow old, the best country brand, the best countries for business, the most sustainable countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the countries with the highest minimum wage, the safest countries, the best countries with the highest average salary, the best countries for social progress, the best countries for working women, the best countries for mothers, the best countries for average life expectancy at birth, the most popular countries, the most gay friendly countries in the world, the most peaceful countries, the best countries for giving back, the best countries for global professionals on the move, the most tax competitive countries, the most innovative countries, the happiest countries, the best country to grow old, the most generous country and the best countries for business. Today, we’ll be featuring Catalyst’s list of the 10 best countries for women on corporate boards in 2015.

Women account for roughly 50% of the population; yet have a long history of being marginalized especially when it comes to business and being in positions of power in the corporate world. Catalyst captured this phenomenon by publishing their global census of women on corporate boards. This report counts the number of female board members at public companies in some 20 countries around the world. According to this data compilation, the 10 best countries for women on corporate boards are:

• 1) Norway – Percentage of women: 35.5
• 2) Finland – Percentage of women: 29.9
• 3) France – Percentage of women: 29.7
• 4) Sweden – Percentage of women: 28.8
• 5) Belgium – Percentage of women: 23.4
• 6) UK – Percentage of women: 22.8
• 7) Denmark – Percentage of women: 21.9
• 8) Netherlands – Percentage of women: 21
• 9) Canada – Percentage of women: 20.8
• 10) USA – Percentage of women: 19.2
• 10) Australia – Percentage of women: 19.2

On average, the number of women holding a position on the boards of S&P 500 companies is roughly 19.2%, which held steady from last year. Another take-away from the study is that European companies are doing better on average than those in North America. I guess we as Canadians should be proud to rank in the top 10 but this also points out that we still have much room for improvement.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including inbound telephone fundraising, outbound telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery fundraising services, donation processing and receipting and direct mail fundraising services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all our business decisions  and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.