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High-earning companies in the U.K. have been making progress toward including women on
their boards, but some of the excuses for not appointing or including more women are
... well, we'll just read some of them off so you can see.
Those snippets are part of a compilation from a U.K. government-backed report.
The report looked at the gender progress made by Financial Times Stock Exchange 350 companies.
That progress includes a decline in the number of men-only boards.
In 2011 there were 152, and in 2017 there were only 10.
But despite those strides, the report's findings indicate mentalities that government officials
find concerning.
The country's business minister said: "It's shocking that some businesses think these
pitiful and patronizing excuses are acceptable reasons to keep women from the top jobs.
Our most successful companies are those that champion diversity."
The list of excuses comes with a challenge from the government: By 2020, FTSE 350 companies
should aim to have women make up one-third of board and leadership roles.
This comes on the heels of a pointed transparency effort from the government.
Last year, the U.K. required companies with more than 250 employees to share gender pay
gap data.
Nearly 80 percent of companies that responded paid men more than women.