Birmingham Business Journal

Males hold 92 percent of director seats at Alabama public companies

The percentage of women serving on Alabama’s public company boards rose slightly compared to recent years, although every state public company board still had a male majority in 2010.

Women accounted for only 7.9 percent of board seats at Alabama public companies in 2010 – up from 6.6 percent in 2007, according to the “Women on Board” study released recently by the Women’s Economic Development Council  and the University of Alabama  at Huntsville’s Women’s Studies program.

Alabama’s statistics are not unusual for the Southeast. Georgia and Florida both have less than 10 percent female representation on their public company boards.

Despite the slight increase in female representation in the top company boards Alabama, representatives from the Women’s Economic Development Council are pushing for more change. Barbara Buice, who led the Alabama “Women on Board” study, said more than female empowerment, the changes are needed to help the bottom lines of companies in Alabama.

“The objective is to have corporate America, and our economy, reap the benefits of the powerful and diverse talents of women and other underrepresented populations,” she said. “To be the most profitable, companies must always select the most qualified and appropriate talents for their particular needs.”

Buice said Alabama’s statistics were not surprising but disappointing.

Alabama’s neighbor Georgia, women hold 8.6 percent of all public company board seats, according to a 2010 study from the Georgia-based Board of Directors Network Inc.

And in Florida, a 2010 study by Women Executive Leadership, found women held 8.8 percent of the board seats of the largest 100 public companies in the state.

Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, president of national women’s leadership group The InterOrganization Network (ION), said among the 14 states reporting statistics in 2010, Alabama falls just shy of statistics for other states. ION reported that women hold between 8.3 to 18.4 percent of board seats in public companies in the 14 reporting states, including Georgia and Florida.

“Tradition often dictates the business world, which is very gradually transitioning to support gender diversity on boards and in executive suites,” said Ms. Laurent-Ottomane. “ION’s latest report reveals that the numbers have changed only slightly for the better, but we hold to the notion that the institutional investment and shareholder community has the power to change corporate board composition.”

Rose Norman, retired professor of English at UAH and researcher for the Alabama women’s study, said the small percentage increase in Alabama when comparing 2010 to 2007 was partly due to a decrease in the number of public companies. In 2007, 34 public companies called Alabama home compared to 23 in 2010.

“Companies that have a more diverse board for gender and race are more successful and prosperous,” she said. “Like hires like, and until we had affirmative action, you kept duplicating what you had. You hire who you know, and when you go out of your way to seek diversity, it adds energy and new ideas.”

Among Birmingham’s public companies, the largest female presence in 2010 was on Medical Properties Trust ’s board with 25 percent, the UAH study said.

Four had no female representation on their boards of directors in 2010: Books-A-Million Inc.  (Nasdaq: BAMM), Hibbett Sports Inc. (Nasdaq: HIBB), Superior Bancorp (Nasdaq: SUPR) and Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP). These same four companies also reported no female representation on their boards in a 2008 report by the Birmingham Business Journal. Messages left with these companies were not returned by press time.

While Hibbett had no female directors, it had one of the highest percentages of female executive officers of state public companies with 40 percent in 2010. Books-A-Million has 25 percent female representation among executive officers and formerly had a female presence at the top, with CEO Sandra Cochran, who resigned in 2009 to take a position with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc.

Some Birmingham public companies are pushing for diversity among its director seats and top positions.

Protective Life Corp.  (NYSE: PL) reported women held 16.7 percent of board seats at its company and 40 percent of executive officer titles. Protective Life CEO Johnny Johns said the company works hard to find the best talent to develop and promote its best employees.

“In a lot of strategic decisions the board is faced with, there’s great benefit with not having a homogenous group of people making decisions,” he said. “We also have a great deal of geographic diversity also from Birmingham, Atlanta, Connecticut and New York. They bring different perspectives from profit and nonprofit arenas, and it all goes into the mix for an effective board for our shareholders.”

Johns said hiring outside of traditional stereotypes is good business. He said Protective’s chief operating officer and chief general counsel are both women, and two women serve on its board of directors.

“People are people,” he said. “Men and women both have very good skills in all areas. There’s the perceived stereotype that women aren’t good in math and science, but we have fantastic actuaries here who are women. You do yourself a disservice when you (hire based on stereotypes).”

Buice said public companies do face slow changes in board ratios for men and women because of lifetime term limits for board members. Women and African Americans simply have to wait out these long-term appointments to get a chance for a higher-ranking position.

“Every corporate board should assess their selection process on a regular basis to ensure, not only that there are no unwarranted prejudices, but also that the process ensures a balanced, diverse board composition for their industry and that the best qualified persons for meeting the companies’ needs are selected,” she said.