A descriptive analysis of women representation on corporate boards of Nigerian publicly listed companies

Abstract

A growing body of literature has documented perspectives (ethical, stakeholder and performance) which women on corporate boards can be beneficial. Despite the undeniable advantage of having women on corporate boards, little is known on the level of women representation on the corporate boards of Nigerian companies. Therefore, this study used a descriptive analysis of 80 listed non-financial companies over the period of 2005-2015 to find out the level of women representation on corporate boards of Nigerian companies. Based on the descriptive statistics, more than half (52%) of the sampled listed non-financial companies on the Nigerian stock exchange have no single seat allocated to women. In addition, an average of seven (7%) of women were found on corporate board, while only few companies six (6%) have a female as the chief executive officer (CEO). Most of the women on corporate boards were found in the healthcare, services and consumer industries. Therefore, this study provides insights on the categories of companies aspiring women should target in their business networking collaborations.