Standard Chartered Bank: Women on Corporate Boards in India 2010

PART 1: WOMEN ON BOARDS
1.3.3 BSE-100 Female Directors - Age and Tenure
Age
There are significant differences in the ages of men and women, as executive and non-executive directors. The women are on
average at least five years younger than the men holding board positions on the BSE-100. As in other countries, the executive
directors have younger average ages than non-executive directors. For the women these are 48.5 and 56.9 years respectively.
A similar age difference (approximately 7 years) is evident in the male executive and non-executive directors, but the range
of ages is considerably more spread out. All the women directors (48 women) were aged between 30-73 years. Across the
888 men for whom we have ages, the range was 21-91 years. There is a cluster of older male directors - 20 of whom are
octogenarians and one is aged 91. This may be a product of family ownership and also a culture which is more reverent of its
older citizens.
Table 13: BSE-100 Directors’ Age
2010 Age
All EDs NEDs
Men 60.3 years 55.7 years 62.1 years
<strong>Women</strong> 55.6 years 48.5 years 56.9 years
Tenure
The range of tenure for women was 0-32 years, with men showing a wider range of 0-42 years on boards. When looking at
female and male executive directors, there were no statistically significant differences in their tenures, but this is most likely
a statistical anomaly, as with only eight women the sample is too small. The average tenure figures are in fact strikingly
different, showing those women who have achieved executive positions have been in the organisation almost twice as long
as men. This may suggest that promotions processes within some of these organisations may show some bias.
Also of interest are the figures regarding the tenure of non-executive directors, which show that women are unlikely to
have been employed in the organisation prior to taking a non-executive role. However, the figures for men show that on
average they have been with the organisation for a period before taking on a non-executive director role. With a range
of time in organisation of 0-50 years, closer examination of the data reveals that the majority of men who have been with
the organisation for more than 20 years have more recently taken on a non-executive role. This longevity of tenure clearly
diminishes the potential for independence.
Table 14: BSE-100 Directors’ Tenure
Executive
Non-Executive
2010 Directors Directors
Time in Time in Time in Time in
Role Org Role Org
Men 4.1 years 5.5 years 4.8 years 7.5 years
<strong>Women</strong> 5.6 years 11 years 3.7 years 3.8 years
1.3.4 BSE-100 Directors - Ethnicity and Nationality
The business case for diversity on boards has been argued in terms of the producing innovation and creativity, reducing
‘group think’ and ensuring better corporate governance and greater stakeholder representation may help sustain better
performance. The benefits of diversity do not just apply to gender but also to ethnicity and nationality. However, making
comparisons from similar benchmarking exercises in the US and UK (Catalyst and Female FTSE reports) is complex due to
varying definitions of ‘ethnicity’. Complexity in global markets provides a compelling argument for a diverse board in terms
of the richness of experience, and cultural diversity is one way of achieving this. This argument becomes even stronger when
companies have significant non-national revenues or operations abroad.
Unfortunately, data on nationality was only available for approximately one-quarter of all the 1,112 directors listed. No
data was available on ethnicity. Of the 59 non-Indian nationals listed, the more common nationalities were American,
British, German and Swiss. However, it would appear from the data that the vast majority of directors are of Indian descent,
if not nationality. In comparison to other major stock exchange listings around the world (e.g. listed in America, UK,
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