Singapore organisations still falls short of WOB goals: CBD

The slower rate of women director appointments is said to be a local issue in Singapore.

Singapore’s Council for Board Diversity (CBD) has announced that women’s participation on boards (“WOB”)  increased in 2020 but organisations in the people, public and private sectors have yet to achieve the targets set by the Council in 2019.

The largest 100 primary-listed companies on the Singapore Exchange achieved 17.6% in 2020, down 2.4 percentage points on the council's 20% target for the year. The top 100 Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) improved their WOB score to 28.8%, a rise of one percentage point on 2019 data, and Statutory Boards saw the most improvement, with an increase of 2.4 percentage  points to be to 27.5% WOB  at the end of 2020 - though still 2.5 percentage points short of the 30% goal for that type of organisation.

All three sectors experienced an increase in the number of boards that achieved 30% or more WOB. About a third of statutory boards and close to half of Top 100 IPCs have 30% or more WOB. Some 16 Top 100 companies have 30% or more WOB, with four joining the ranks in 2020 – Singapore Press Holdings, SPH REIT, and Venture Corporation each appointed one more woman onto their board; Nanofilm Technologies International listed in 2020 with 33% WOB.