Gender diversity of the supervisory board
The Dutch “Diversity Act” became law on 1 January 2022. Listed companies in the Netherlands are now required to achieve at least one-third (33%) male and one-third female representation on their supervisory board. With one-tier boards, the quota only applies to the non-executive board members.
This strict minimum quota applies to all new board appointments. Any new appointment at companies that do not currently meet the one-third minimum female and one-third minimum male levels of representation must contribute to achieving the new mandated quotas when hiring a new supervisory or non-executive director.
In addition, the new law obliges all large Dutch companies (whether listed or not) to adopt appropriate and ambitious target figures for gender diversity of the management board, the supervisory board (unless it already complies), and at sub-board level.
Female representation on boards has increased consistently over the last two decades, and 2024 data confirms this trend. Nevertheless, at its current pace the number of male and female directors on AEX and AMX boards is unlikely to achieve approximate parity until about 2032.
In 2020, women accounted for 36% of all non-executive directors in our survey, marking the first time female representation exceeded 30%. The trend has continued into 2024, with the proportion rising to 43% (note that in the figure below executives have been included, reducing the percentage to below 40%). This is a substantial shift compared to the situation seen a decade ago, when women occupied only 21% of all NED board positions. When chairs are excluded from the sample, women account for 49% of the remaining NEDs, up from 44% in 2022, indicating a well-balanced gender representation among regular non-executive directors.
As seen in our last edition, five companies have a female chair: ASM International, Air France-KLM, Fastned, Wereldhave, and Wolters Kluwer. Out of the 50 companies, three have a female chief executive officer, one fewer than recorded in 2022. Only one company (Wolters Kluwer) has both a female CEO and female chair.
Women on boards (% of all directors)
Gender diversity of the executive committee
In addition to CEOs, we have also reviewed female representation on executive boards, as well as all executive directors on unitary boards. Of these directors, women account for 21%.
Our perspective
If we step back from year-to-year comparisons and look at progress over a longer period of time, the picture is encouraging. Female representation in supervisory positions has doubled from 21% in 2014 to 43% in 2024, and, if this trend continues, equal representation of men and woman in supervisory positions will be achieved around the end of the decade.
For a couple of decades now, the focus of diversity efforts has been on improving the representation of women on supervisory boards. We anticipate that these encouraging results will create a more supportive context in which to further increase female representation and enhance overall diversity.
The 2024 data also shows that significant efforts need to be directed towards boosting female representation among chairs of supervisory boards (currently 10%), CEOs (6%), and the wider executive board (21%). It is important to note that female representation in these three roles is intimately linked: board chairs tend to be recruited from the population of former CEOs, who are often recruited from the population of executive board members.
We expect, however, that female representation at the top of companies will continue to rise, thanks in part to supporting measures such as the Diversity Act now in place. Non-executives and those on the nomination committee (or its equivalent) have a key role to play in this regard.
Age
The average age of non-executive directors, excluding employee representatives, is currently 62 years. This figure has remained relatively stable over the years (it was 63 years a decade ago). The age range within the cohort under review stretches from 26 years, represented by Nadia Sawiris of OCI, to 82 years, exemplified by Nelson Peltz of Unilever.
The average age of female NEDs is 60, compared to an average of 64 among their male counterparts.
Unsurprisingly, current executives with external NED board mandates are younger than those who serve as portfolio board professionals, averaging 59 years versus 64 years.
Among chairs, the average age is 65, with ages ranging from 53 to 78 years.
Nationality and cultural diversity
When looking at other metrics of diversity metrics, we see that 43% of our sample non-executives holds Dutch nationality. Among the others, we see a large share among US (15%), Belgian (6%), British (11%), and French (7%) nationals. In total, we observed 24 unique nationalities within the non-executive group.
Cultural diversity encompasses not just nationality, but also a variety of ethnic backgrounds, languages, and cultural identities. In the section that follows we highlight the complexities and challenges of measuring and recording this.
Our perspective
In the course of our board advisory work we have noticed a growing focus on ethnic and cultural diversity, alongside other diversity priorities such as gender. This follows an established trend in the US and the UK. For example, the UK’s Parker Review established targets for FTSE 350 boards to ensure that appointments include at least one director from a minority ethnic background by December 2024.
These demands come with their difficulties, however, as there is no systematic way in which these factors are documented. In the Dutch context, for instance, there are challenges in measuring and recording ethnic and cultural diversity effectively. There is limited support in society at large for recording people’s ethnicity, including from people who may identify as being part of such minorities. Unlike in the US, where levels of minority representation in the boardroom are supported by comprehensive statistics, the Netherlands lacks a consistent framework for documenting such diversity metrics.
While there is ongoing effort to address and improve this issue, a targeted approach has yet to emerge. Current initiatives to promote diversity in the Netherlands are in their early stages, and without a coherent strategy it becomes challenging to track progress and ensure that diversity goals are implemented and met consistently.