EPRA: CEOs back mentoring scheme for women at top management level

Europe’s listed property firms are backing a mentoring scheme to address the shortage of women in senior management positions in the industry.

Research by EPRA found that women accounted for 22% of board members in the 94 companies in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index, but the figure varies widely between different countries. In France 34% of company board members are female, with the Nordic nations just behind on 33%.

In the UK and Ireland – which represent 40% of the total index in terms of market capitalisation, women represent just 11% of company boards. Germany, the second largest market, has women in 13% of top management positions, while the smaller listed markets of Spain, Italy and Greece fare better, averaging 23%.

Philip Charls, EPRA CEO said: ‘Women are generally under-represented in the top management of European listed real estate companies, our research shows. CEOs from EPRA members have therefore agreed to back a mentoring scheme to support promising women managers in their careers.

‘This voluntary approach has proven to be extremely effective at improving corporate diversity compared with less successful outcomes through compulsion and target quotas. By establishing a benchmark reference for the industry on gender diversity now, we hope to be able to measure improvement in this area in the future.’

Studies by management consultancy McKinsey have shown that listed companies in the top quartile of female representation on executive committees perform better than those that are less diverse. On average these companies have a 47% superior return on equity and a 55% outperformance in earnings before interest and tax, according to McKinsey’s ‘Women Matter’ reports.

McKinsey’s research concluded that the most effective way to support women was by changing the corporate culture and setting targets for gender representation throughout the management hierarchy.

Sandrine Devillard, Principal at McKinsey, said: ‘Women have high ambitions and are just as willing as men to sacrifice part of their personal lives to reach the top, but they have less confidence that they will be successful in their careers. This is rather a lack of confidence in their environment to support them than a matter of trust in one's own qualifications. Which is why the prevailing corporate culture is the most important factor affecting those ambitions.’