EEOC Supporting Voluntary Arbitration To Settle Disputes

Groups Urge More Boards To Add Women Several prominent women's organizations are calling on U.S. corporations to add more women to their boards. The Financial Women's Assn. (FWA), The International Alliance, The Assn. of Professional Insurance Women, and the New York Women's Agenda represent a combined membership of more than 100,000. The groups have dedicated themselves to adding women to corporate boards. "Women today represent more than half the labor pool, control 80% of all purchase decisions and more than half of all investment decisions," says Pamela Packard, president of FWA. "Shaping corporate boards with qualified members who best reflect the changing character of the American consumer makes good sense." According to women's research group Catalyst, women held 10% of directorships at the U.S.' largest 1,000 companies. Twenty-seven percent of those companies had no women directors. The groups have chosen a letter-writing campaign targeting CEOs as their method of raising awareness. "There's movement at the top, but the pace of movement is still very slow," says Packard.