Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Kenya has made some great strides in Gender inclusion in the corporate world. There are now more women sitting in corporate boards in Kenya, pushing the threshold above the global average.

According to the 2021 Board Diversity and Inclusion report by the Kenya Institute of Management, women in corporate boards in Kenya stand at 36 percent compared to a 23 percent global average.

“In Kenya, gender diversity in the boardroom now stands at 36%, which is significant progress from 21% in 2017. In comparison, the global average of women holding board positions stands at 23.3% up from 20.4% in 2018,” the report says.

The report also indicates that female representation in C-suite roles in Kenya constitutes 37 percent compared to 21 percent globally.

The average age of Kenyan board members is 47.6 years, down from 55.8 years in 2017. The study also revealed that Boards in Kenya are mostly constituted of professionals from the Accounting/Finance/Audit, Business Management and Development, Human Resources and Legal fields.

Diversity in the Workplace

The 2020-21 Board Diversity & Inclusion Study sought to examine the impact of diversity and inclusion on organizational performance, decision-making, and productivity in the boardroom in order to provide insights into best practices to drive parity by 2030.

According to the report, gender and age are critical components in driving organizational performance, decision-making, and productivity.

“More organizations and businesses are now anchoring their strategies for sustainability and growth around diverse and inclusive teams, with the benefits becoming increasingly apparent, specifically on increased innovation, reduced employee turnover, and enhanced organizational competitiveness in a global economy” the report says in part.

Methodology

The 2020-21 study explored diversity at different levels of the organization, beyond gender and included other variables such as age, religion education, race, ethnicity, profession and people living with disabilities (PLWD).

This study featured 345 companies, including publicly listed companies with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), private companies registered under the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), and members of the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) were examined between December 2020 to March 2021.