The number of women in management functions at the Netherlands’s biggest 500 firms rose by 14, or 9% last year, according to research by the Financieele Dagblad and Elite Research.

The increase, the third significant year of growth in succession, is due to better lobbying, limits to the number of boardroom roles, and more recognition for the benefits of a diverse board, the paper said.
Researcher Jos van Hezewijk told the paper there has been a ‘definite breakthrough’, due in part to an ‘effective lobby by top business women such as European commissioner Neelie Kroes’. Talk of introducing quotas has also forced companies to reassess their policies, Van Hezewijk said.
In addition, former finance minister Wouter Bos nominated several women for boardroom roles following the financial sector bail outs, he said.
Foreigners
At the same time, the number of foreigners in Dutch corporate boardrooms went down by two, or 5%, last year after a 23% drop in 2008. This is largely because foreigners often come on the scene following a takeover, Van Hezewijk said.
The paper says a number of governance experts have growing doubts about the value of having foreigners at the top, particularly in supervisory boards.
For example, Nyenrode professor Steven Schuit stated recently that supervisory board chairman must be able to understand the Dutch consensus model of doing business to be effective, the paper said.