A study by a Nashville university on corporate boards of Tennessee-based, publicly trade companies cites Unum Group of Chattanooga as one of 11 companies with two or more female board members.
Unum CEO Tom Watjen said his company benefits from the diversity of opinions and experience women bring, but said having a financial, regulatory, marketing or other business background is the starting point.
“There are two things that go on when you think about a board. It’s the qualities you’re looking for, then it’s also being sure to have a diverse set of perspectives,” Mr. Watjen said. “We have a broad range of qualifications in terms of experience, but then also bring some diverse backgrounds and diversity in terms of women and others that we think is very important.”
Mr. Watjen said that while the company is conscious of diversity, jobs on executive boards don’t often open up.
“A typical board is between 11 and 13 individuals, and if you don’t have openings, it’s very difficult to go through the assessment process,” he said.
female officersTennessee corporations with two or more women directors* Unum Group* FedEx Corp.* Am Surg* Buckeye Technologies* Cracker Barrel Old Country Store* First Farmers and Merchants* Healthways Inc.* International Paper Co.* Mountain National Bancshares* Pinnacle Financial Partners* Tractor Supply Co.Source: Lipscomb College of BusinessUnum’s female board members* Pamela H. GodwinPresident of Change Partners Inc.Havertown, Pa.* Gloria C. LarsonPresident of Bentley CollegeWaltham, Mass.
Multiple changes on the board at Unum, where 41 percent of the officers are women, enabled the insurer to think about gender diversity “in a pretty big way” over the last three to four years, Mr. Watjen said.
Dr. Allison Duke is author of the Lipscomb University study that shows women have made no progress on corporate boards of the firms studied.
The biggest barrier to women’s ascension to company boards is a lack of mentoring and networking opportunities, she said.
“We’ve had no statistical change in directors or officers,” said Dr. Duke. “In 2006 we had a decrease in the number of officers, which was statistically significant, and it stayed relatively the same over the last five years.”
“There are men who will mentor women, and men do a great job mentoring women as far as helping them achieve career progress, but often male mentors don’t seek out female mentor protégés,” Dr. Duke said. “Typically the female has to seek out that mentoring relationship.”
She also cited the traditional role of women as at-home caregivers, which can prevent them from being able to attend after-hours meetings or social events.
“For breakfast meetings and after-hours meetings, it’s still difficult for women to make those appointments,” Dr. Duke said.
She added that for companies that embrace diversity, the rewards are financial as well as moral.
“Studies have shown that companies with high numbers of women on their boards have up to 30 percent higher returns,” Dr. Duke said, before turning her attention to Unum. “We just are very excited about the opportunity to really celebreate that there are companies who value diversitiy and who use that to their advantage.”