Beyond the Boys’ Club?
Amanda Oliver reports on the lessons from her research exploring women’s contribution to the governance of housing associations in Wales
DESPITE A DECADE of national policy development by the Welsh Government and years since the implementation of the regulation and governance frameworks, many aspects of the governance of housing associations in Wales remain out of sight. Particular areas of weakness relate to the poor diversity of boards of management principally in relation to gender. My research, undertaken as part of my doctoral studies at Cardiff University, explored women’s contribution to governance through a study of two housing associations in Wales.
My research found that the governance structures, typologies, organisational cultures, routes to participation and power dynamics operated at board level inhibit female participation on boards of management.
- Housing associations failed to consider issues in relation to gender and wider diversity on their boards of management.
- Housing associations have failed to address the situations where dominant members on boards of management hold on to their power and influence the majority of the decisions made.
- Governance and recruitment arrangements were based on a need to preserve the strategic and policy focus on finance, risk, legal and governance issues, and as it is mainly men who are involved in these professions, it is ultimately their views that direct the organisations.
If practice is to change, then the potential for the Welsh Government’s’ regulatory framework to be a significant exogenous influence through regulation and inspection needs to be recognised. The Welsh Government in its regulatory role has the potential to transform and influence the diversity of housing association boards of management. If the balance of gender is changed (or at least ameliorated) then this has the potential to change the power dynamics of boards for them to be more inclusive.
The Welsh Government has recently required housing associations to assess the level of gender diversity on their boards and to increase the gender diversity using positive action should the level of female representation fall below 38 per cent. Whilst this is a laudable exercise to highlight issues of gender inequality, I would go further in this area, and consider that housing associations need to consider the diversity of their boards in relation to their tenant and local area profile, and enact positive strategies to increase board diversity as a whole.
If boards are to become more gender neutral and reflect the gender diversity of society as a whole, opportunities for board membership need to increase. I agree with the recent consultation on the Code of Governance for housing associations in Wales in that there should be maximum terms of service for board members. This in itself will ensure that there are opportunities to increase the gender diversity of association boards as more prospects will become available.
Welsh Government and housing associations should ensure that there is a succession planning strategy for increasing female representation on boards, by identifying potential board members through professional network organisations (Come on Board comeonboardwales. co.uk, Women on Boards, Women in Social Housing, Chwaraeteg etc) where there are links to female professionals outside of the arenas of housing, health and social welfare. This could lead to the increased representation of women from risk, finance and legal backgrounds that have been identified in my research as being dominated by men.
The use of a succession planning strategy will also give the sector time to train and support potential female board members, in order that they have the skills, knowledge and confidence to participate effectively at board level. The succession planning strategy will link in well with an organisations’ business planning strategy cycle, therefore ensuring that appointments to boards are fit for the future, rather than the immediate period.
The use of open advertising, and recruitment strategies, rather than a reliance on close personal and professional networks could also lead to increased gender diversity of board members. Advertisements for board member opportunities should be published in a wide range of professional publications rather than just in the housing press, and using professional network organisations could lead to an increased pool of potential board members.
Housing associations should also undertake an assessment of the power dynamics at play within their boards of management. This will lead to a better understanding of who is ‘empowered’ or ‘disempowered’ on boards, thus leading to opportunities for additional training
for current board members to increase contributions and the quality of debates at board meetings. This will ensure that board members are performing their roles more effectively and that boards are more accountable in their governance arrangements.
The debate on female representation on boards will continue to spark debate within the wider public sector. Housing has the potential to lead the way through enacting very practical steps to address these issues. I look forward to seeing a housing association sector leading the way with 50:50 representation by 2020.
Amanda Oliver is operations manager at Dewis, a supported housing provider in Neath Port Talbot. Amanda will be discussing her findings at Tai. Her doctoral thesis, Beyond the Boys’ Club? Women’s Contribution to the Governance of Housing Associations in Wales, will shortly be published online through Cardiff University Research hub. To discuss this research further please email: Amanda@dewishouisng.org or Twitter @MsAmandaOliver