The study, pursued between November 2007 and March 2008, was done locally, under the direction of a project steering committee comprising representatives of the Association of Women's Organisations in Jamaica/the Jamaica Women's Political Caucus, the Bureau of Women's Affairs, the Centre for Gender and Development Studies UWI, the Jamaica Business Women's Association, the Joint Trade Union Development Centre and the Women's Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC).

Forty-four organisations were randomly chosen to participate in the study. Thirty public sector agencies, along with 10 publicly listed private sector companies and four trade unions were included.

Over 80 per cent of the respondents were from public sector organisations, with 15 per cent from the private sector. The findings were presented at a workshop convened by WROC at the Courtleigh Hotel, in Kingston, on Thursday, May 22.

Conclusions

Some of the conclusions are:

A higher percentage of women than men (in boardrooms) reported having non-degree postgraduate education.

Men accounted for 71 per cent of the overall sample and were even more dominant in the private sector, with women accounting for only 16 per cent of corporate boards of publicly listed companies in the sample.

Only five of the 40 organisations surveyed had a woman as the chairperson of the board. The study also noted that where women serve on more than one board, the functions were often closely related to their job function or role.

Only in one case was a woman serving on the board of more than four organisations in both the public and private sector.

Few women were found on major corporate boards or in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as transportation and agriculture. Senior management of trade unions remain an almost exclusive male preserve, with only two women identified in such positions for the unions in the sample.

There appeared to be no age limit on men who were appointed to boards, but the peak ages for female participation were 40-54 years, with 73.7 per cent falling in that range.

Women made up a higher percentage of younger directors (under 45 years old) than men. Almost one-third of the women in the sample were younger than 45 years, compared to only 17.6 per cent of men. Approximately 48 per cent of the men were older than 55 years old, while for women this cohort represented only 15.8 per cent of the sample.

Women were more likely than men to be single or divorced. Approximately 32 per cent of the women interviewed reported being single or separated/divorced, compared to 17.5 per cent of their male counterpart.

Two-thirds of the female board members were employed with the Government, compared with 42.8 per cent of the male members.

A higher percentage of men (64.1) reported serving on multiple boards than women (42.3). There were approximately 25 per cent of men who reported serving on more than five boards, mostly in the private sector.

The researchers noted that policy changes by Government were urgently needed if women are to pursue and realise their right to participation in governance at the highest level of society.