Get more women on boards - Harman

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Action is needed to end the "nightmare" of male-dominated leadership of major companies, Harriet Harman has said.

The minister for women told MPs it was still not totally "accepted" firms with no women on their boards were likely to be less successful than balanced ones.

A lack of women at the top of City firms was due to "institutionalised gender discrimination", she believed.

But she had to defend the under-representation of women at the Treasury, saying progress was needed.

'Imperative'

Only 19% of senior employees at the Treasury are women, leading Ms Harman to say both the private and public sector had room for improvement.

The deputy Labour leader was appearing before the Treasury Select Committee, which is investigating the under-representation of women at senior levels in the City and pay disparities between men and women.

Ms Harman said it was a social and economic "imperative" to ensure women's parenting and family responsibilities did not prevent them from rising to senior positions in business and industry.

She denied suggestions from some female City executives that planned changes to maternity leave laws, which will give mothers paid leave of up to a year, would actually hold back their careers.

Companies with male-only boards were likely to be less successful, she told MPs, failing to spot new opportunities and to deal with risks.

When the numbers change, you will see the climate change Harriet Harman

Despite this, she said policymakers still needed to "win the argument" that excluding women from board positions was bad for business and the UK's future prosperity.

"If you want to make sure you don't have the nightmare of men-only boards, you actually have to change the terms on which men and women participate, you have to change the culture and working practices because the greater good you are aiming for is to make sure you have diverse boards and a proper meritocratic approach."

Only when there was a "critical mass" of women in board-level positions, would the current "old-boys network" in the City end.

"When the numbers change you will see the climate change," she said.

However, she said the UK would not be following the lead, "at this stage", of Norway, which introduced a 40% quota for female membership on the boards of its largest companies.

'Wrong targets'

Firms must take the lead themselves, she argued, by being more transparent about their promotion and pay practices and by encouraging flexible and part-time working wherever possible.

However, Labour MP Mark Todd said some industries needed a whole culture change in terms of their attitudes to female employees.

"I think we are focusing on the wrong targets here," he said.

"Simply seeking compliance with the rule book is not going to get the message across."

Earlier, Equality and Human Rights Commission chairman Trevor Phillips told the same committee that women faced "chronic" discrimination in the City due to entrenched structures.

He also said City firms prioritised staff between 25 and 39, giving the impression that those over 40 had "nothing to contribute".