Research reveals 'glass ceiling' in governance
Howard Lake | 8 October 2007 | News
There is a glass ceiling in voluntary sector governance that means women and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds find it harder to become trustees of larger charities and voluntary organisations.
The BoardsCount benchmarking survey, launched at the NCVO/On Board governance conference yesterday (8 October), revealed that in smaller organisations, women made up 45 per cent of the board, but only 29 per cent in larger organisations. For black and minority ethnic trustees, these figures are 12 per cent and seven per cent respectively.
More than half the respondents felt that their boards failed to adequately meet the diverse needs of their existing trustees. About half felt there was a gap in the representation of disabled people and almost a third believed there should be a better gender balance.
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The survey involved more than 70 organisations and around 450 board members and senior staff to compare governance practice with others to help improve performance.
Results did show that most organisations surveyed are demonstrating signs of good leadership.
www.ncvo-vol.org.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.