In Luxembourg, amongst the 36 companies analysed, 33 women hold board positions. Top industries with the highest percentage of women on boards in 2018 include Manufacturing with 17.5 percent, Technology, Media & Telecommunications with 14.3 percent and Financial Services with 6 percent. When it comes to female board committee members, the Risk function has the highest score with 19 percent, followed by Nominating (16.1 percent), Audit (15.7 percent) and Compensation (13 percent). For women occupying the position of Committee Chair, Risk once again takes the lead with 23.1 percent, followed by Compensation (18.8 percent), Nominating (15.4 percent) and Audit (13.6 percent).

Studies have repeatedly shown that increasing diversity is not only the right thing to do for an organization’s culture, it also leads to better business outcomes. Increased diversity leads to smarter decision-making, contributes to an organization’s bottom line, and powers innovation, among other benefits.

“Embedding diversity into organizational culture is an important focus area for organizations. Each year, Deloitte Luxembourg extends an invitation to a number of business schools and universities across Europe to bring together bright young talent for our Young Women Challenge, with the objective of gathering fresh perspectives on the topic of gender balance in the corporate sphere. Today’s young female students will have the potential to hold board seats in the future. At Deloitte Luxembourg, diversity and inclusion are a strong part of our DNA, allowing us to make a significant impact and bring positive change together,” states Christian van Dartel, Diversity and Inclusion Leader at Deloitte Luxembourg.

Yet barriers to gender diversity in the boardroom, and more broadly throughout the workplace, persist. Outdated workplace cultures, unconscious bias, and lack of sponsorship are just a few of the factors which prevent many women from reaching senior leadership roles. Women hold just 4.4 percent of CEO positions globally. CFO positions are nearly three times more diverse, but women still hold just 12.7 percent of these positions globally. Given that many board members are recruited from the executive level, this also contributes to a shortage of women in the boardroom.

“The number of women in financial leadership roles is growing, however we all need to address the remaining gap and take concrete action to achieve long-lasting change in the demographics of the industry. Championing and supporting women in our workspace is a priority. We at Deloitte seek out promising talents and create pathways to success whereby everyone can receive mentorship in order to excel and succeed in becoming the leaders of tomorrow. Diversity is pivotal in creating, not only a better environment, but also improved business performance. Together, we are actively working towards a more inclusive future,” adds John Psaila, Managing Partner at Deloitte Luxembourg.

Deloitte Global’s Women in the Boardroom report shares the latest statistics on global boardroom diversity, exploring the efforts of 66 countries to increase gender diversity in their boardrooms and features insights on the political, social, and legislative trends behind the numbers.

Read more about Deloitte Global’s Women in the Boardroom report here: https://www2.deloitte.com/lu/women-in-the-boardroom