Women on boards

THE Australian Institute of Company Directors has launched its second year of the ‘chairmen’s mentoring program’ in an effort to bolster the number of women on listed company boards.

AICD said the program was the largest of its kind in the world, involving 80 chairmen and directors working with 83 women in a 12-month mentoring relationship.

The program aims to assist mentees to develop connections with influential business leaders, gain knowledge and skills that will assist them in achieving director appointments, increase their understanding of how company boards work and gain valuable advice on the process of selecting and appointing new directors.

AICD chief executive John Colvin said the program had attracted attention from AICD’s international counterparts in New Zealand and the US.

“Mentoring has contributed to this shift in boardroom attitudes and has a practical role to play in increasing board diversity both in the short term and the long term by achieving the sustained cultural change with respect to both board recruitment and selection practices and the promotion of women in senior management,” he said.

According to the AICD, 11.7 per cent of ASX 200 directorships are now held by women, up from 8.3 per cent when the institute first introduced its programs and initiatives at the beginning of 2010.