Swiss SME boards of directors lack diversity

A conference room in Zurich. Keystone / Christian Beutler

Women and foreign nationals are rarely found on the boards of directors of Swiss small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). However, there are major differences depending on the sector.

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This is the conclusion of a Master’s thesis written at the University of Zurich and published on Monday. Author Angelo Antonio Di Feo analysed the boards of directors of 28,000 Swiss SMEs.

According to the study, on average women make up 20% of the boards, although this figure varies greatly depending on the sector. In the IT sector, the proportion of women is less than 10%, whereas in social service companies it is 29%.

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Around 10% of board members do not have Swiss citizenship. In border regions, however, the proportion of foreign board members is higher.

Small supervisory bodies

The boards are generally very small: in almost 90% of SMEs, the board of directors consists of a maximum of four members. In 57% of companies, the CEO also takes on the role of chairman of the board of directors.

The study also found a high degree of stability in the supervisory bodies. On average, an SME board of directors remains in office for 8.3 years.

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According to the press release, the boards of directors of Swiss SMEs are significantly more homogeneous and smaller than those of listed companies. For example, companies in the Swiss Market Index (SMI) currently have an average of 35% women on their boards of directors. However, the government will also require large companies to have a minimum proportion of women on their board of directors and executive board in future.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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