Number of female board members far behind males in listed firms

Taipei, Jan. 29 (CNA) The number of female board members in companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and the over-the-counter market (OTC) is far below the number of male board members, according to the 2024 gender report released by the Executive Yuan Monday.

In the report, the Cabinet's gender equality department said listed companies on the main board and the OTC market recorded a total of 2,233 female board members in 2022, up 861 from a year earlier, while female board members accounted for 15.6 percent of the total, up 3.5 percentage points from a year earlier.

Despite the growth, the number of female board members still lags far behind the number of male board members at listed companies which was 12,125 in 2022, making up 84.4 percent of the total.

However, the Executive Yuan said women play a major role in the development of Taiwan's small and medium sized enterprises, which have paid in capital of less than NT$100 million and a workforce of less than 200.

According to the report, the number of small and medium enterprises owned by women hit 603,000 in 2022, up 129,000 or 27 percent from a year earlier and making up 37.3 percent of the total.

By sector, the service sector saw female-owned businesses account for almost 40 percent of the total, compared with 24.6 percent in the agricultural and mineral sector and 27.1 percent in the industrial sector.

In the service sector, women owned more than 35 percent of the companies in most industries, with 46.8 percent in the lodging and food/beverage industry, and 45.6 percent in the education sector, the report said.

In addition, "other service firms" in the report, including household helpers, beauty shops, funeral homes and religious service sectors, were 47.2 percent owned by women, the report added.

In the government, female ministers accounted for 21.9 percent of the total in the Executive Yuan as of the end of January 2023, which was below the target of one-third pushed for by the government, the report said.

The Executive Yuan said female political appointees in the government accounted for 24.1 percent of total political appointees in 2022, also below the one-third target.

Female members of the Examination Yuan, and female judges in the Judicial Yuan made up more than 50 percent of the total, while female members accounted for more than 40 percent of the Control Yuan, the Executive Yuan said.

However, in the constitutional court, female justices accounted for only 26.7 percent of the total in 2022, according to the report.