Companies court women for boards - Korn/Ferry International, Catalyst surveys find more women corporate directors

Nation's Business, Jan, 1990

Companies Court Women For Boards

Recent studies indicate that women are making gains in the corporate boardroom.

In its 16th annual study of boards of directors, Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm with headquarters in New York and Los Angeles, found that a record 58 percent of the boards surveyed have at least one woman director, up from 45 percent in 1984.

And in its annual survey of women on corporate boards, Catalyst, a New York research and advisory organization, found that each of the top 10 U.S. industrial companies has at least one woman director. These top 10 average nearly two women per board. Philip Morris is the leader, with four women directors.

Financial institutions and retailers reported the highest number of women directors, according to Korn/Ferry. They come primarily from academic institutions or are chief executives or chief operating officers at other companies, the executive search firm's study found. The study is based on a survey of 458 corporations; 66 percent of them are industrial and service companies. The rest are financial institutions, insurance companies, and retail firms.

In a report last summer, Catalyst said that "many companies are so eager to reap the benefits of some female board candidates' talent that they are willing to appoint a director who has little or no prior board experience, who is not a CEO, and who is considerably younger than the average male age of 60."

According to Catalyst, women directors "provide powerful role models for company women and show potential female recruits that upward mobility in business is unlimited."

The Korn/Ferry study showed that outside directors earned an average of $28,219 in 1988, up 10 percent from the year before. But outside directors work for their pay; 35 percent of directors say they spend more than 191 hours a year on board matters, according to the survey. "It's no wonder that nearly one out of four prospective corporate directors declines an invitation to serve on a board," said Lester B. Korn, chairman of Korn/Ferry.

Catalyst offers a service that helps companies identify qualified women to serve on their boards. For information on the program, called the Corporate Board Resource, contact Leslie Levin, Catalyst's marketing vice president, at Catalyst, 250 Park Ave. S., New York, N.Y. 10003-1459; (212) 777-8900.