An effective board, not a gender diverse one, should be the end-goal

Instead of suggesting mandatory gender representation, we should instead ensure that there are enough qualified female directors available

Michelle Quah

Published Mon, Mar 27, 2017 · 09:50 PM

Board diversity

Singapore

THE debate over whether companies should be legislated into having a certain proportion of female representation on their boards has taken centre stage again, with recent calls - by a minister, no less - for targets to be set for female directors.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and chair of the People's Action Party (PAP) Women's Wing, Grace Fu, said last week that listed companies here should adopt a target of at least 20 per cent female board representation by 2020, or be required to explain why they didn't. While Ms Fu stopped short of saying Singapore should institute quotas for female representation on boards, her speech did in effect ask for some sort of formalised allocation of board seats to women.