Working mothers in the boardroom

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the importance of ensuring that enough women take their place on boards of directors. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides statistics to underline the under‐representation of women in the higher echelons of companies. It looks at how the problem is being confronted in a number of countries. It examines what governments and companies could and should be doing to ensure adequate representation of women on boards of directors, and the advantages that flow from this. Findings – The paper stresses the importance of career crunch points – particularly around childbirth – when women have to make the decision about how best to balance their home and working lives. It urges companies to support women through these periods through coaching. Practical implications – The paper reveals that companies with strong representation of women on the boards of directors tend to perform better than those with all‐male boards. Social implications – The paper highlights the cost to society of the under‐representation of women at the top of companies. Originality/value – The paper examines, from an international perspective, the problem of under‐representation of women on boards of directors.