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Under-representation: Even in 2024, women’s voices are barely heard

We are witnessing a stream of stories of heroism, wisdom, strength, courage and resourcefulness of many women – leaders, initiators and inspiring and hopeful. But in government, in the war cabinet and in the business sector, we face a bleak gender picture.

We are of the opinion that today, more than ever, it is appropriate and proper for women to have proper representation at the decision-making tables. Today, when Israeli society is mobilized in all its glory for everything necessary for fighting, it is time for soul-searching, rethinking and understanding and internalizing that gender diversity (even at the senior level in the country) is necessary from a business perspective and in general, in order to build a more developed country, a stronger, border-breaking economy, and a civilized society that will enable a better future for our children.

Moreover, many studies point to the contribution of appropriate gender balance and its importance to board independence and quality of work, as well as to company performance. The existence of diversity and diversity of opinions, which is characteristic of diverse groups, allows breaking the mental fixation (“conception”) and creating new points of view, thus bringing about better results. As evidence, market data indicate a direct link between gender diversity and companies’ bottom lines. These conclusions have also served as a basis in various countries around the world for determining measures to promote gender balance on the boards of directors of public companies. An indication of this can be found in the “Women’s Leadership Israel Index”, which includes shares of Israeli companies traded on the Israeli stock exchange and whose share of female representation on their boards of directors is not less than 35%.

In this regard, it should be noted that the Israel Securities Authority aspires that by 2028, women will constitute more than 35% of the composition of the boards of directors of at least half of the listed corporations. This is also reflected in growing voices encouraging the publication of an annual corporate responsibility report, which includes, inter alia, disclosure regarding women’s representation on the board of directors, as well as giving different weight in TASE indices to companies with adequate female representation on the board.

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