IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 1, 2018
Contact: [email protected]
Statement: California's Corporate Board Quotas Can Backfire
Washington, DC — Independent Women's Forum (IWF) president Carrie Lukas released the following statement in response to California's new corporate board gender quota:
"I'm sure that those who championed this bill believe it will help women. But they are missing how this type of quota can backfire, creating the impression that the women who do get onto corporate boards are there just to fill a quota. Studies of other countries, such as Norway which has had a corporate board quota since 2008, have shown disappointing results: The quota regime hasn't improved women's earnings or representation in upper management broadly. Some results show that those forced to add women to comply with the quota had worse performance afterwards. This is troubling. This doesn't mean that women can't be great corporate board members — in fact, other research shows that corporations with female board members outperform their competitors. But it should caution against quotas which warp companies' decision making. Women are slowly but steadily joining more corporate boards. That's a process we should allow to continue organically rather than by government fiat."
####
Independent Women's Forum is an educational 501(c)(3) dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well-intended, but actually enhance people’s freedom, choices, and opportunities.