South Africa: Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa set to release women in leadership census

Leading women’s organisation, the Business Women’s Association (BWA) is set to release the results of its 2012 edition of the annual South African Women in Leadership Census sponsored by Nedbank and the National Empowerment fund. The Census results are coming at a time when there are calls for gender diversity to become a pre-requisite for listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The Census is a research report published annually by the BWA that shows the representation of women in leadership positions including chairperson, chief executives, directors and executive managers of all JSE -listed companies, their subsidiaries and schedule 2 state-owned enterprises (SOEs).This is compared with government department data on women in leadership positions in the public sector.

BWA is the largest and most prominent association of business and professional women in South Africa, and the voice of women in business.

In an effort to make the Census as representative as possible, in 2009 the BWA expanded the exercise to include Alternate Exchange (Alt-X) companies as well as the subsidiaries of all JSE-listed companies (Main Board and Alt-X) and the subsidiaries of all SOEs. Previously, only those companies listed on the Main Board of the JSE and SOEs were included in the Census. Also, for the fourth year running, the 2012 Census also measures the progress of women in leadership positions within government departments.

The 2011 Census measured a total of 339 companies of which 319 were JSE listed companies and 20 were state-owned enterprises. Of the 319 JSE companies, 63 were Alt-X companies and 257 were main board companies. Regarding the Government data, the 2011 reporting period shows an increase of women, including those in the SANDF, to 56.3%(from 55.8% the previous year) whereas men decreased to 43.7% (from 44.2% the previous year) indicating once again that the growth that has taken place within Government has taken place within the female population.

A direct comparison of men versus women in the upper echelons of the workforce portrays a stark reality. Women are clearly in the minority amongst their male counterparts. Women hold only 4.4% of CEO/MD positions, 5.3% of Chairperson positions, and 15.8% of all Directorships.In Government, women hold 35% of all Senior Management positions.Of the women in salary levels 13-16, 62.5% are black, 7.5% are Asian, 7.2% are coloured, and 22.7% are white. While in salary level 6-8, where the majority of women in government are employed, 77.2% are black, 2.5% are Asian, 8.3% are coloured, and 12.0% are white
Source: BWASA