Participation of women in bank boards rises to 14.22%

The participation of women in banks' boards of directors or the policy-making level has increased to 14.22% in the last one year.

According to the central bank data, the participation of women in the boards of directors of 61 banks in the country increased by 66 basis points over the six-month period that ended on 31 December 2022. It was 13.56% at the end of June last year.

Proportionally, the foreign-owned banks had the highest ratio of women board members – 18.60% – at the end of December 2022, which was 15.91% at the end of June 2022.

The ratio of women has also increased in the boards of private banks – from 14% in June 2022 to 14.71% in December that year.

However, the ratio of women members on the state-owned banks' boards has slightly decreased to 10% during that period.

The ratio of female board members was the lowest – 4% – in the specialised banks.

According to a half yearly report of the central bank, "The rate of female employees' participation in the banks was higher at the initial (16.96%) and mid (15.67%) levels than at the higher level (9.22%)."

According to the report, out of 1.96 lakh employees in all the banks in the country, 32,000 are women, which is 16.29% of the workforce.

Foreign banks are leading in the proportion of women employees – 23.90%. In state-owned banks it is 16.52%, in specialised banks it is 14.37% and in private banks it is 16.15%.

The participation rate of women employees below 30 years of age (21.96%) is more than double that of women officers above 50 years of age (9.01%) in these scheduled banks.

A review of data on non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) in the country showed that women accounted for 16% of the total workforce in those institutions at the end of December 2022.

As with banks, the ratio of women employees in NBFIs is higher at the early and mid-stages than at the higher stages. Besides, female employees under the age of 30 had a higher participation rate than female employees in their fifties during the same period. The participation of women as board members in these institutions was 15.61%, said the central bank report.

According to The Global Gender Gap Report (2022) published on the basis of global data on gender equality, Bangladesh ranks 71st among 146 countries in the world, the central bank report said.

The Bangladesh Bank has continued to review the gender equality indicators of banks and financial institutions on a six-monthly basis and is encouraging banks and financial institutions to take necessary steps in this regard, emphasising gender equality and women's empowerment in the financial sector.

The central bank report noted child day care centres, sexual harassment prevention/awareness policy formulation, women's travel facilities, and awareness training on gender equality as the reasons behind the rise in women's participation in the sector.