When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Venari Partners believe in practising what they preach. As a champion of diverse values and experiences, Venari Partners are passionate about sharing their vision with their network and helping clients to meet targets on diversity. This can encompass many different areas – for example, gender, race, and class, among others.
Last year, Venari Partners pledged to provide an update each January about gender diversity in aviation boards using publicly available information about leading carriers’ non-executive directors (NEDs) to analyse female representation – or lack thereof. While aviation, like many industries, has traditionally seen women being underrepresented in managerial and executive positions, this whitepaper continues Venari Partners’ work examining the gender diversity gap at board level specifically.
The importance of the board of directors
Boards are just as crucial as the C-suite for organisations to thrive. Organisations with active DEI programmes in place increasingly want the board to reflect their commitment to diversity – and for change to come from the top down, with the CEO placement being a board mandate. There has been some progress globally in recent years – women now make up 10.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs, with the figure falling to 5.8% in Fortune’s Global 500 list – though we are still far from seeing gender equality at the highest echelons of the corporate ladder.
Over the past few years, we have seen increasing focus on, and demand for, gender diversity in the aviation industry. However, this is typically concentrated on areas such as operations – as well as, of course, the C-suite. The dearth of gender diversity at board level does not receive as much attention as we believe it should. A company’s board is essential for directing the organisation’s work culture, direction, and priorities. If women are present as NEDs, the likelihood of having female representation at C-level also increases – and we see this trickle-down effect as being an essential area for the aviation industry to address.
Venari Partners’ yearly update
The company picked up where their previous study left off, examining 411 NEDs of 40 airlines across the following regions*:
- Australia/Pacific (APAC)
- Europe
- Middle East
- North America
- South America
*Of the 411 board members studied this year, 312 were men and 99 were women. The average number of board members across the airlines was just over 10. Data accurate as of 31 December 2023.
Last year, the company reported that females were outnumbered by a ratio of almost one to four across the boards of carriers surveyed in 2022. Has anything changed since then – and what does the future look like?
The results
Venari Partners’ findings for 2023 show a slight increase on last year’s figure. They have found that women comprised 24% of all board members – an increase of two percentage points on the results of last year’s whitepaper.
Gender split by region
The statistics differed from one carrier to another – and, most notably, across regions. This year, once again…
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Article by Venari Partners
