Stereotypical "Old White Guys" Still Serve On Most Corporate Boards

In The Idaho Statesman

An interesting article entitled, Albertsons leads the way for women, explains why there are not more women serving on corporate boards. Here are a couple of snippets from it:

• Larry Johnston, chairman, president and CEO at the grocery chain Albertsons, said putting more women in charge of large companies makes economic sense.

• "Women have insight into our customers that no man -- no matter how bright, no matter how hard working -- can match," said Larry Johnston, chairman, president and CEO at Albertsons. "That's important when 85 percent of all consumer buying decisions made in our stores are made by women. As we pursue a customer-focused approach to growth, the insight, knowledge and expertise of women is invaluable -- at every level in the organization."

• "It was a bunch of old white guys making erroneous assumptions and erroneous conclusions about women and the multi-cultural consumers that make up the majority of Albertson's customers," Flickinger said.

• "Companies must broaden their requirements for board directors," she said. "The number of women ENTREPRENEURS has skyrocketed — over 44 percent of the privately-owned firms are now owned by women. The problem is that current board directors aren't in the networks where women business achievers gravitate."

• There also continues to be a "glass ceiling" in corporate America where women can only progress so far in a company and many aren't given the opportunity to reach the executive ranks (... which brings us back to the reason for this blog!).

When you read the article, be sure to check out the right sidebar which highlights the top 5 largest companies and what percentage of women they have on the company's board as well as the snapshot at the impact women have on business.