Case Study

Focus 9: Women on Boards: A Conversation with Male Directors

July 20, 2011
Research suggests that the presence of women on boards contributes to improving corporate performance. Yet, globally over 90 percent of directorships are held by men. To better understand the opportunities for and obstacles to increasing the number of women on boards, IFC invited over 15 prominent male chairpersons, CEOs, and directors of listed and unlisted companies across a range of industries and countries to share their opinions on how women add value to the corporate decision-making process. They offer practical ideas on how to encourage recruitment of women to boards through networking, training, and improving transparency of the director nomination process.


This publication includes interviews with Gilberto Mifano (Brazil), Peter Dey (Canada), Zhang Shude (China), Ashraf Gamal (Egypt), Christian Strenger (Germany), Jaspal Bindra (India), Nasser Saidi (Lebanon), Patrick Zurstrassen (Luxembourg), Paul Chang (Malaysia), Zaffar Khan (Pakistan), Mervyn King (South Africa), Lars Thunell (Sweden), Yilmaz Argüden (Turkey), John Plender (United Kingdom), Peter Browning (United States), Patrick Chisanga (Zambia).

Focus #9 was compiled and edited by Marie-Laurence Guy, Carmen Niethammer, and Ann Moline. Foreword by Nena Stoiljkovic, IFC Vice President for Business Advisory Services.

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