Old boy network under the microscope

Research project will investigate the cultures of private and public boardrooms in science, engineering and technology companies and organisations.

The UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC) has commissioned a research project to investigate the cultures of private and public boardrooms in science, engineering and technology (SET) companies and organisations and the barriers to women's progression into SET boardrooms.

The project will be led by Dr Val Singh, Reader in Corporate Diversity Management at the Centre for Women Business Leaders, Cranfield School of Management.

The Project Advisor is Professor Susan Vinnicombe OBE.

Dr Singh and Professor Vinnicombe are the authors of the annual Female FTSE Report used by the UK Government as an official statistic benchmarking progress of women into decision-making roles.

There is a clear business case for addressing female under-representation on UK boards, not least because having more women and people from diverse backgrounds means that companies are better able to represent and understand the stakeholders and customers they want to attract.

Yet despite over 30 years of equal opportunities policies, women are still almost invisible in the boardrooms of most companies, with only 3.4% of executive directors in FTSE 100 companies being female (Cranfield Female FTSE, 2005).

Patricia Hewitt, former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and former Minister for Women commented in her foreword to the Female FTSE Report 2004: "If the UK is serious about creating a modern economy, recognising diversity and utilising the skills of everyone, there is still much more to do", in terms of getting women into the boardroom.

A growing body of evidence suggests that the exclusion of women from the boardroom is related to the culture of executive management and boardrooms in particular.

For example, the old boys club at the top has been frequently cited as a reason for the exclusion of women at senior levels (Acker, 1992).

Dr Singh's investigation will focus specifically on exploring and identifying different types of boardroom cultures prevalent in the SET sectors, and identifying which cultures are least and most amenable to the progress of qualified women.

An expected practical output is the production of guidelines for public and private boards indicating measures that organisations could undertake to create cultural change.

A multi-method approach including interviews, documentary evidence and observations will be used to gain a better understanding of the nature of SET boardroom cultures, the director appointment process and the experience of women on becoming directors.

Eight to ten organisational case studies will allow for comparisons of perceptions of the culture of: science, engineering and technology boards; public and private boards; large and small boards; multinational and local boards; and gender-balanced and all-male boards.

A separate section will provide evidence of the experience of women directors.

It is expected that this work will make a significant contribution to academic knowledge about SET boardroom cultures and the experiences of women directors, as there is scant research into boardroom dynamics and gender in general, as well as a lack of knowledge of the phenomenon in SET sectors.

Dr Singh comments: "Even all-male boards may have positive cultures that encourage women to achieve their full potential and progress eventually to the board - but we do not have the research base yet to ascertain where the barriers arise for those women who really aspire to the boardroom".

"This is an opportunity for inspirational companies and SET organisations to work with the Cranfield team with its expertise in women and leadership to help us to find out more about the barriers so that the UK doesn't lose the under-developed talent of yet another generation of women scientists and engineers".

The completion date for the project is 30th June 2007.

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