The Ongoing Challenge of Gender Balance in Swiss Boardrooms

The Swiss Market Index (SMI) saw a slight increase in the share of women across its boards of directors over the past year to 35.5%, resulting in a new all-time high for the representation of women in these positions (Figure 1). However, the proportion of newly elected women directors has fallen to just 26% - less than half of what it was in previous years.

Figure 1: Share of women directors in the SMI (2018-2024)

_{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates Analysis 2024. Based on company communication and publicly available information.}

This marginal growth, along with a sharp decline in new women appointments, leaves the SMI trailing behind other major European indices in terms of gender diversity at the board level (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Average share of women on Boards of Directors of major European stock indices.

_{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates Analysis 2024. Based on company communication and publicly available information.}

The quota effect: A double-edged sword

This slowdown in SMI women directors’ representation comes after a historic number of appointments in previous years.

The legislative measure mandating gender quotas for boards and executive committees in publicly listed Swiss companies initially sparked a surge in women appointments. All SMI boards except one have subsequently achieved the required 30% share of women, accounting for 95% of boards.

However, this year saw only five SMI board of directors' seats filled by women (Figure 3). This suggests that, since many SMI companies have met the mandated quotas (30% for boards and 20% for executive committees), they’ve now lost the momentum towards gender parity and have reverted to a “sustain-mode.”

Figure 3: Newly elected men and women per year (2018-2024)

_{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates Analysis 2024. Based on company communication and publicly available information.}

Interestingly, in the 2024 election cycle, Swiss Market Index (SMI) companies also experienced minimal overall changes to their board compositions. Faced with global economic uncertainties, companies appear to be prioritizing continuity in leadership, with a view to steadying the ship.

This shift towards maintaining the status quo makes it increasingly difficult to appoint the women needed to achieve equal gender representation at the board level.

Companies will also need to look at whether they have a balanced share of women across all levels of the organization. For those companies with uneven distributions of women, addressing the dips, particularly at the senior management levels, is essential for ensuring sustained progress in gender diversity.

Figure 4: Share of women leaders across SMI organizations

_{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates Analysis 2024. Based on company communication and publicly available information.}

The power gap persists

While the number of women board directors has been rising steadily, most board leadership positions remain dominated by men. The number of women board chairs and deputy chairs has remained static at 25%, indicating that women are not moving into positions of influence quickly enough (Figure 5).

One positive exception: there was slight increase in the proportion of women committee chairs in 2024.

Figure 5: Changes in numbers of women board chairs, deputy chairs and committee chairs

_{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates Analysis 2024. Based on company communication and publicly available information.}

SMIM: A step back from progress

The Swiss Market Index Mid (SMIM) fell slightly behind the SMI in its pursuit of board gender parity after overtaking it last year. Currently, 35.4% of SMIM directors are women. The share of newly elected women directors dropped to 24%, considerably lower than the 48% observed in 2023 (Figure 7).

Five SMIM companies have achieved a 50%+ representation of women on their boards of directors, while six companies (21%) still need to appoint women to their boards to reach the mandated percentage.

In comparison, all but one SMI company have reached the target percentage for women board directors (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Share of companies with 30% or more women directors SMI vs SMIM (2020-2024)

_{Source: Russell Reynolds Associates Analysis 2024. Based on company communication and publicly available information}

Looking ahead: The challenge of sustained progress towards parity on Swiss boards

While Swiss boards have made progress towards gender parity in recent years, our data suggests that continued and sustained effort are necessary to ensure that gender diversity doesn't stagnate once minimum requirements are met.

The coming years will be crucial in determining whether Swiss companies can build on the initial momentum created by quota legislation to create inclusive and diverse leadership structures. As it stands, there is still significant ground to cover, particularly in elevating women to the most senior and influential positions within Swiss boardrooms.

Authors

Alexandra Ettlin is a consultant in the Swiss office and a member of the Board & CEO Advisory Partners team at Russell Reynolds Associates. She is based in Zurich.
Corrado Menghini leads the Swiss office and is a member of the Board & CEO Advisory Partners team at Russell Reynolds Associates. He is based in Zurich.