Board appointments 'must become more transparent'

An expert on boardroom diversity has said executive recruitment processes must become more open and transparent if female representation at the top level of British business is to increase.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Professor Susan Vinnicombe of the Cranfield School of Management said she believes women face an "unconscious bias" against them when it comes to board positions at leading companies.

"I don't think chairmen get together and blatantly discriminate; it's much more subtle than that," she told the newspaper.

Prof Vinnicombe, director of the International Centre for Women Leaders at Cranfield, also indicated that aspiring female board members now seem to face an additional hurdle.

Research from the centre has revealed that of the 14 new women who joined the boards of FTSE 100 companies in 2009, only one was from UK.

"The primary thing is that appointments in the private sector are just not open and transparent," the academic commented.

Females currently account for just 12.5 per cent of all directorships in the FTSE 100, according to figures published by Cranfield earlier this month.