Women are joining corporate boards of directors in greater numbers, but a new survey shows their representation on the boards of financial services companies still lags that in other industries.
The survey, by Coopers & Lybrand LLP, included 267 companies ranging from private firms to Fortune 500 companies.
Eleven percent of directors at a broad spectrum of industries were women, the survey found. While that is only a one-percentage-point gain from 1996, Coopers & Lybrand saw "signs of more notable advancement."
For one, 77% of survey respondents said they had at least one female board member, up from 65% in 1996.
Health-care companies have opened their doors the widest, according to the survey. Women made up 15% of the board members in that sector in 1997. The mining industry had the fewest female board members, 6.6%, the survey found.
Financial services firms also fell behind most other industries, according to the survey. Just over 8% of board members in the sector were women.
Muriel Lazar, director of the diversity practice at Coopers & Lybrand, said corporations face mounting pressure from the media and shareholders to broaden the makeup of their boards.
"Companies are very worried about their image," she said, "and the ones that haven't made progress in diversity often fall into the spotlight."
Executive recruiters, many of whom search for director candidates, said board participation is seen as a fast remedy.
"Boards began moving down the diversity track faster than corporate structures," said Lee Pomeroy, an executive recruiter at Egon Zehnder International. "Boards are small, so you can add one person and go from zero representation to 8% or 10% at once."
The nation's biggest banking companies have been setting an example, Ms. Lazar said. Chase Manhattan Corp. counts three women among its 19 directors. BankAmerica Corp. has two female directors out of 16.
Citicorp and J.P. Morgan & Co. each has one female director, out of 14 and 13 members, respectively.
Though directors have traditionally been recruited from the world of business, the more recent crop has been culled from academia, the arts, or philanthropic organizations, Mr. Pomeroy said. Many of these newer directors are women, he added.
