Deloitte-PWNR report: Romania reports progress in leadership gender balance

Women representation in leadership positions recorded progress in Romania over the last years.

Romania reports progress in leadership gender balance, as the number of companies listed on the regulated market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) with at least one woman occupying a board position increased by almost 20% since 2015 and reached 62%, according to the latest available data, show the conclusions of the Women on Boards report, conducted by Deloitte Romania in collaboration with Professional Women’s Network Romania (PWNR), the organization which supports women’s access in leadership position in order to accelerate gender balance in management structures. As far as the boards composition is concerned, among all the listed companies, the share of women on boards reached 20%, up by 5 percentage points since 2015. The report also highlights progress regarding the share of companies having women in the executive committees, which reached 65% among the Romanian listed companies on the BSE regulated market, up by 12 percentage points since 2015.

On the other hand, the report reveals that the number of companies having a woman as board president or as CEO remained mostly constant during the analyzed period. Only eight out of the 84 analyzed companies had boards chaired by a woman as of 2020, similar to six out of 70, in 2015. In terms of companies which have a woman as CEO or member of the directorate, only 12% of all Romanian companies listed on BSE regulated market fall into this category, compared to 11%, in 2015.

“The latest available data shows that the EU average share of women on boards in the largest companies is around 60%, which is significantly higher than in Romania.  From this point on, we can only evolve up, which is why women are strongly encouraged to take the lead and invest in their development,” said Alexandra Smedoiu, Partner, Deloitte Romania, and coordinator of the SheXO Club Program.

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“We observed some progress in Romania in the last years towards greater gender equality on corporate boards. Still there is a lot of room for improvement in the future and we are looking forward with positivity to the recently adopted general approach of EU members states on proposed EU Directive aiming to strengthen the gender balance on company boards which will allow a larger number of highly qualified women in Europe to realize their full potential,” stated Ileana Botez, Interim President, PWN Romania.

The report also highlights that the percentage of women on boards has increased in industries that may be considered male-dominated. Six out of seven analyzed sectors show growth in the number of women serving on boards, with the healthcare industry being the only one that has seen a decrease. The greatest gain is registered by the real estate and construction sector, as 45% of the board seats are held by women, up by 32% since 2015, followed by financial services (19% according to the latest data, compared to 9%, in 2015).

The Women on Boards report was conducted based on the latest publicly available data from the Companies Annual Reports for 2020, the companies’ official websites and the Bucharest Stock Exchange database. The data was compared with the results of the “Women on boards” report conducted in 2015 by Deloitte Romania and PWN Romania.

The SheXO Club, a global Deloitte initiative launched in Romania in 2012, aims to nurture a community of business women that can network, grow and thrive, through the creation of a platform for experience sharing. Throughout its business meetings, market research and publications, the club expands knowledge in the areas of leadership, economics, global trends and business models, while sharing best practices in the field of diversity and inclusion.