The Diversity Scorecard 2015: Diversity Matters

This 2015 report on board diversity in Asia Pacific is the third in the Diversity Scorecard series. This report traces board composition across 10 countries in the region – Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea, with Indonesia being a new addition. Across these countries, the top 100 listed companies by market capitalization in each country were selected for the study. Different types of diversity, such as age, educational qualification and gender were examined in the report. However, gender diversity continues to be the main focus of the study, due to low representation of women on boards in the region.

This year’s study has established that a higher proportion of women on boards is positively correlated with better company performance. The study shows that boards with 10% or more female directors offer, on average, a 3.6% higher Return on Equity (ROE) than those with a lower proportion of women (less than 10% female directors).

The study has also shown some optimistic signs. The number of all-male boards has decreased, while the average female representation on boards in the region rose to 9.4% from 8.0% compared to the previous year.

Click the Download link below to access the full report.