Women in Mexican boards: Faster progress, but still far

This week, to commemorate the International Women’s Day, I want to share our updated annual analysis of gender equality in Mexican boards. 

Faster progress, but still far 

Gender equality in Mexican boards improved since last year, but it is still far from ideal. A number of companies in the S&P/BMV IPC index have made solid progress over the past couple of years (notably ASUR going from 0% participation of women in 2019 to 27% in 2021 and 2022, the BMV going from 0% participation of women in 2018 to 27% in 2021, and Orbia going from 0% participation of women in 2020 to 25% in 2021 and 2022).  

The overall level of women on boards increased to 14% vs 12% last year in March (double what it was back in 2018). Furthermore, looking just at women who are independent members of these boards, female participation is a meager 7% (vs. 5% in 2021). 

Mexico’s S&P/BMV IPC Constituents – Women on boards 

*IPOs and inclusion in index from 2019 onward. 

Source: Company reports and websites, BMV, Miranda ESG 

There are still 5 companies in this group that have no women on the board at all: ALFA, Coca-Cola FEMSA, Grupo Mexico, Peñoles, and Telesites. This is down from 6 companies with all male boards last year (and 16 companies with all male boards in 2018). As for boards without independent women, the number is still quite high at 18 (or 50% of the group) – even if down from 26 (or 74% of the group in 2018).

Source: Company reports and websites, BMV, Miranda ESG 

With respect to new board members (those appointed in 2022), our survey shows a net increase of 9 women board members across the sample. This compares to a net decrease of 3 board members in total across the sample. This means that women are in fact being hired by boards at a faster pace than before.  

We look forward to seeing more progress over 2023 as many companies are yet to announce their new boards. Let’s hope by this time next year there are zero all male boards in this group. 

I hope you found this interesting. As usual, if there is anything we can help you with, or if there is an ESG topic you would like to know more about, please let us know.

Best,

Marimar

CEO, Miranda ESG

P.S. On methodology: For 2018 and 2019 our data comes from annual reports. For 2020 and onwards, data comes from annual reports (when already available) or from the latest available data on company websites. As companies differ in when and how they report board changes, in some cases the changes over years may not always be strictly comparable between companies. We identify woman board members by their first name and, when available, additional gender information provided. This may not always be accurate. We exclude alternative directors. We have rounded up decimal points to the nearest integer. Our goal is to give us a rough indication of board composition, and this is not a rigorous academic study. Should anyone want to receive a copy of our data base of board members please email us and we will be happy to share. And if you detect any inaccuracies, please let us know and we will correct them. 

Appendix: More interesting data 

*IPOs and inclusion in index from 2019 onward. 

Source: Company reports, Miranda ESG