Tackling issue of gender diversity on boards - can GLCs lead the way?

AMONG the proposed changes to the Code of Corporate Governance announced in January is to require companies to disclose their diversity policies and progress made in achieving those policies.

The Diversity Action Committee (DAC) has since welcomed this proposal; however, it remains to be seen whether enhancing disclosure alone will lead to the DAC's desired outcome of having 20 per cent of listed company boards occupied by women by the year 2020.

The problem is that when it comes to addressing gender imbalance on company boards, there are no easy answers. On one side is the argument that without official quotas, the number of women directors will always remain small; on the other is the claim that regulatory intervention amounts to tampering with free market forces and might even end up impeding women's interests.