California bill requiring women on corporate…
Insult or opportunity? California bill requiring women on corporate boards spurs debate
(Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Demonstrators take part in a Day Without a Woman march and rally during the International Women's Day at Frank Ozawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, March 8, 2017. Demonstrators demand equal pay, reproductive and immigrants' rights. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By Julia Prodis Sulek | jsulek@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: September 4, 2018 at 3:31 p.m. | UPDATED: September 5, 2018 at 4:28 a.m.
A bill sitting on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk requiring public companies to have at least one woman on their boards is intended to advance gender equality and help break the corporate glass ceiling. But Bay Area women leaders are torn: Is this an insult or an opportunity?
The bill, SB 826, is the first of its kind and already has unleashed a social media backlash, the most notable response from Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren: "This is an absolute crock of crap. As a woman, I find this not only condescending but absolutely ridiculous. California is going downhill FAST."
Regardless of political persuasion, most women interviewed Tuesday agree that inherent and systematic bias against experienced, qualified women is unfairly hampering their rise in the workplace, with some calling the discrimination "disgraceful."
But will mandating public companies in California to put women on boards help solve the problem or create "token" positions that end up hurting women's advancement? Studies show that companies with women on boards perform better. But as of June 2017, 26 percent of the 445 publicly-traded companies in California still had no women on their boards.
Lori Nishiura Mackenzie, executive director of Stanford's Clayman Institute for Gender Research, says passing the legislation is only the start. How it's carried out will be just as important.
"If boards follow this poorly, they may just get a woman to get a woman, and that's a mistake," Mackenzie said. "If they do it well, they will look at the barriers that have prevented them from seeing the amazing women as valuable contributors to their boards."
Harmeet Dhillon, a committeewoman for the Republican National Committee and a San Francisco lawyer, says the legislation is a bad idea — and she readily offers that she has experienced gender discrimination in her own legal profession.
"I agree that it would probably be better for American businesses if they had more diversity on their boards — women and minorities," Dhillon said. However, "having the government mandate that (diversity) is completely ridiculous and counterproductive to how businesses should be run."
State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat from Santa Barbara who co-authored the bill, said in an interview Tuesday that encouragement hasn't worked. In fact, she said, an "aspirational" resolution she wrote in 2013 urging corporate boards to voluntarily add women "fell on deaf ears."
In 2013, the percentage of women on boards was 15.5 percent. Five years later, it's 16 percent, she said. "Sometimes in order to change culture, you have to have legislation," she said. "Would I prefer companies would have recognized they are more successful, more productive, more profitable" when they add women to boards? she asked. "Absolutely. But it didn't happen and it's not likely to happen. We need to take a stand."
The legislation would mandate that all publicly-traded California companies have one woman on the board by the end of 2019. By the end of 2021, it calls for at least two women on boards with five directors. At least three women will be required on board of companies with at least six directors. Companies that don't comply will be fined $100,000 for their first violation.
Venture capitalist Jillian Manus, managing partner with San Francisco-based Structure Capital, a Republican and advocate for women, says it's a challenging debate.
"There is no right answer. This is an incredibly emotional topic for both the corporations as well as for women," Manus said Tuesday. "On one hand, I think it's an insult, and on the other it's an advantage."
Manus, who sits on numerous boards, says she has turned down board positions when its clear that the company is only interviewing women to fill a "gender slot."
"The insult is that women will be put on boards because of their gender and not because of merit. Merit is key," Manus said. "Women want to not just fill a slot but add value."
She also understands that women have a difficult time breaking through the glass ceiling because they're not offered the positions of advancement along the way that fill out their resumes to be considered for a board position. "It's a dog chasing its tail," she said. Even so, she's reluctant for the government to impose a mandate.
"There must be a better way through education and incentivizing, rather than forcing and penalizing," Manus said.
The bill comes at a time when record numbers of women are running for office across the country and on the heels of the #MeToo movement that empowered women who were victims of sexual harassment and abuse.
Sen. Jackson says "it's no coincidence" that the company of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had no women on its board.
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For Tanya Saroj Bakhru, a San Jose State associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies, something is missing from the entire debate over the legislation.
"I don't think it's the right conversation," she said. "The right conversation is how can we make sure that women from all different racial and class backgrounds are experiencing equity in the workplace."
Gov. Brown has until Sept. 30 to decide whether to sign the bill. If he does, proponents wouldn't be surprised if it's legally challenged.
But for now, this bill about women is in the hands of a man.
"My hope is he will acknowledge and recognize and support this effort," Jackson said. "I'm hopeful that he will — and that it will be a template for the rest of the country."
California Legislature
Julia Prodis Sulek | Enterprise reporter
Julia Prodis Sulek has been a general assignment reporter for the Bay Area News Group, based in San Jose, her hometown, since the late 1990s. She has covered everything from plane crashes to presidential campaigns, murder trials to immigration debates. Her specialty is narrative storytelling.
jsulek@bayareanewsgroup.com
Follow Julia Prodis Sulek	@juliasulek
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