Women on Boards of Directors

This research aims to measure the current gender representation in membership of boards of directors, and to study the factors affecting the presence of women on boards. The results of the study will support the decision makers and policy makers at all levels by providing knowledge that contributes to bridging the current gap in participation of women boards. The methodology used in this research is the descriptive analytical approach, which relies on quantitative methods in the process of collecting and analyzing data. This study represents the boards of directors in the three sectors (public, private, and non-profit) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The study sample contained 350 targets, where a random sample of 150 people in the public sector, 100 people in the private sector, and 100 people in the non-profit sector were selected. The research result found that the majority of the responses believe that the lack of experience and training, and social factors, are the most impact areas of explaining the reasons for the existence of a gap in women’s membership in boards of directors in the three sectors. And the most important reasons for the existence of a gender gap in board membership are: there is no statutory minimum percentage for women’s representation on boards of directors, and scarcity of female competencies in general, and the lack of women occupying leadership positions.