Women woefully underrepresented in Alabama board rooms

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The battle for gender equality rages in America, as companies from coast to coast are trying to equalize representation of women on their boards.

And 2018 may just be the year of the woman. The Wall Street Journal reports from January to May, women made up 31 percent of new board directors at 3,000 of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies, according to a data analysis by corporate governance firm Institutional Shareholder Services. Translation: 2018 has seen the highest percentage of female board seats in at least a decade.

But Alabama is a bit behind the rest of the country.
According to a new analysis by Birmingham Business Journal (BBJ), “none of the state’s public companies have women in CEO or equivalent roles, and none of their boards are chaired by women.” Which means, Alabama companies are losing out on not only an important segment of talent, but on critical marketplace perspective.
Out of the 12 companies that made BBJ’s final list, more than half of the list didn’t even get past the 15 percent mark when it came to the percentage of women board members. In fact, the highest percentage of women on any board was on just 30 percent.
Here’s a look at Alabama’s companies that have the highest percent of board members that are women:

12. Servisfirst Bancshares Inc.
Board members: 6
Percent of women: 0%

11. National Commerce Corp
Board members: 12
Percent of women: 7%

10. Auburn National
Board members: 11
Percent of women: 9%

9. Proassurance Corp
Board members: 10
Percent of women: 10%

8. Hibbett Sports Inc.
Board members: 9
Percent of women: 11%

7. Energen Corp
Board members: 9
Percent of women: 11%

6. Medical properties Trust Inc.
Board members: 6
Percent of women: 17%

5. Regions Financial Corp.
Board members: 14
Percent of women: 21%

4. Computer Programs and Systems Inc.
Board members: 9
Percent of women: 22%

3. Adtran Inc.
Board members: 8
Percent of women: 25%

2. Vulcan Materials Co.
Board members: 10
Percent of women: 30%

1. Encompass Health
Board members: 10
Percent of women: 30%