越来越多的女性进入企业董事会

女性占全人类的一半，企业董事会等代表性机构反映出这一比例也是合理的。

双语精读

Women make up half of humankind, and it is reasonable for representative institutions such as corporate boards to reflect this.

女性占全人类的一半，企业董事会等代表性机构反映出这一比例也是合理的。

In 2022 the European Parliament ruled that at least 40% of non-executive directors at firms with more than 250 employees should be women by 2026.

2022 年，欧洲议会规定，到2026年，员工超过250人的公司中，非执行董事至少40%为女性。

Britain's FTSE 350 companies hit that mark last year, on average. Japan, where only 18% of directors are women, recently told big businesses to get to 30% by 2030.

去年，英国富时350指数公司的平均水平达到了这一标准。日本只有18%的董事是女性，最近才要求大企业到2030年将这一比例提高到30%。

America's constitutional dislike of quotas dooms similar efforts. But its markets regulator wants firms to disclose diversity statistics, which may shame some into action.

美国宪法对配额的厌恶注定了在美国类似的努力会失败。但美国市场监管机构希望企业披露多样性统计数据，这可能可以激励一些企业采取行动。

Our annual "glass-ceiling index", which ranks OECD members on ten indicators of female workplace empowerment (and can be found at economist.com/glassceiling), shows all this is having an effect.

我们的年度“玻璃天花板指数”对经合组织成员国的十项女性职场赋权指标进行了排名（详见此网页），结果表明，所有这些努力正在产生积极影响。

Across the club of mostly rich countries, women's share of directorships reached 33% in 2023, an all-time high. In France, New Zealand and Norway it is nudging 50%.

在主要由富裕国家组成的俱乐部中，女性担任董事的比例到2023年达到 33%，创历史新高。在法国、新西兰和挪威，这一比例正逐渐趋近50%。

Is there a business case for more female boards, as well as a moral one?

增加女性董事比例，除了道德上的考量，是否也有商业上的原因呢？

In 2020 consultants at McKinsey found that firms in the top quartile for board gender diversity were 25% likelier to outperform their industry average than those in the bottom quartile.

2020 年，麦肯锡公司的顾问发现，董事会性别多样性排名前四分之一的公司比排名后四分之一的公司，业绩上超过行业平均水平的可能性高出25%。

Studies have found that appointment of a woman as boss can boost a firm's share price and price-to-earnings ratio (though not its return on assets).

研究发现，任命女性为领导者可以提高公司的股价和市盈率（尽管不能提高资产回报率）。

Yet so many factors influence a firm's profitability that proving a causal link between representation and performance is next to impossible; companies that perform well for other reasons may have the luxury to also pay attention to things like diversity, for example.

然而，影响公司盈利情况的因素很多，所以几乎无法证明性别代表性与绩效之间的因果关系。例如，业绩好的公司可能也有机会关注多样性等问题。

So instead, Margarethe Wiersema of the University of California, Irvine, and Marie Louise Mors of Copenhagen Business School interviewed directors at 200 big companies in Europe and America.

因此，加州大学欧文分校的玛格丽特·威尔斯玛（Margarethe Wiersema）和哥本哈根商学院的玛丽·路易斯·莫尔斯（Marie Louise Mors）采访了欧美200 家大公司的董事。

They found that women are consistently better prepared for board meetings, had better attendance rates and were more willing to ask probing questions.

她们发现，女性董事在准备董事会会议方面始终表现更好，出席率更高，并且更愿意提出探究性问题。

Female directors in other words, are "setting a higher standard and mitigating the problem of groupthink". That should be a boon for corporate governance.

换句话说，女性董事正在“设定更高的标准，并减轻了集体错觉问题”。这对企业管理来说应该是一个福音。

词汇预习

• executive [高考]

  美[ɪɡˈzekjətɪv] | 英[ɪɡˈzekjətɪv]

  adj. 行政的；决策的；经营的；[计算机]执行指令 n. 行政主管；行政部门；决策者

• corporate [高考]

  美[ˈkɔːrpərət] | 英[ˈkɔːpərət]

  adj. 法人的；公司的；社团的；共同的；全体的

• consistently [高考]

  美[kənˈsɪstəntlɪ] | 英[kən'sɪstəntlɪ]

  adv. 一贯地，始终；一致地

• diversity [高考]

  美[daɪˈvɜːrsəti] | 英[daɪˈvɜːsəti]

  n. 多样性；差异

• luxury [高考]

  美[ˈlʌkʃəri] | 英[ˈlʌkʃəri]

  n. 奢侈品；奢侈；豪华

• ratio [高考]

  美[ˈreɪʃioʊ] | 英[ˈreɪʃiəʊ]

  n. 比率；比例

• representation [高考]

  美[ˌrɛprɪzɛnˈteʃən] | 英[ˌreprɪzenˈteɪʃn]

  n. 陈述；表现；表示法

• humankind [高考]

  美[ˈhjumənˌkaɪnd] | 英[ˌhju:mənˈkaɪnd]

  n. (总称)人类

• economist [高考]

  美[ɪˈkɑnəmɪst] | 英[ɪˈkɒnəmɪst]

  n. 经济学家；[古]节俭的人

• empowerment [高考]

  美[ɪm'poʊrmənt] | 英[ɪm'paʊəmənt]

  n. 授权

• attendance [高考]

  美[əˈtendəns] | 英[əˈtendəns]

  n. 出席；出席人数；出席率

• boost [高考]

  美[buːst] | 英[buːst]

  v. 提高；增加；鼓励；举起；为...做宣传 n. 增加；推进；鼓励

• annual [高考]

  美[ˈænjuəl] | 英[ˈænjuəl]

  adj. 每年的；年度的；一年生的 n. 年刊；一年生植物

• com [高考]

  美[kɑm] | 英[kɑm]

  abbr. 计算机输出缩微胶片(=computer-output microfilm) abbr. 组件对象模型(=Component Object Model)

• representative [高考]

  美[ˌreprɪˈzentətɪv] | 英[ˌreprɪˈzentətɪv]

  n. 代表；众议员；典型 adj. 代表的；典型的；代表制的

• next to [高考]

  美[nɛkst tu] | 英[nekst tu:]

  邻近； 紧靠

• in other words [高考]

  美[ɪn 'ʌðər wɜːdz] | 英[ɪn 'ʌðə wɜːdz]

  换句话说； 也就是说

• moral [高考]

  美[ˈmɔːrəl] | 英[ˈmɒrəl]

  adj. 道德的；精神上的 n. 寓意；道德；品行；伦理

• setting [高考]

  美[ˈsetɪŋ] | 英[ˈsetɪŋ]

  n. 背景；环境；镶嵌；安装；放置；（日月的）沉落；[音]乐曲

• gender [高考]

  美[ˈdʒendər] | 英[ˈdʒendə(r)]

  n. 性别；性（阳性、阴性和中性）

• workplace [高考]

  美[ˈwɜːrkpleɪs] | 英[ˈwɜːkpleɪs]

  n. 工作场所

• where [高考]

  美[wer] | 英[weə(r)]

  adv. 在哪里；在那个地方 conj. 在 ... 地方

• statistics [高考]

  美[stəˈtɪstɪks] | 英[stəˈtɪstɪks]

  n. 统计学；统计；统计数字

• index [四级]

  美[ˈɪndeks] | 英[ˈɪndeks]

  n. 指数；索引；(刻度盘上的)指针 v. 指出；编索引

• disclose [四级]

  美[dɪsˈkloʊz] | 英[dɪsˈkləʊz]

  vt. 揭露；使某物显露；公开

• earnings [四级]

  美[ˈɜːrnɪŋz] | 英[ˈɜːnɪŋz]

  n. 收入；利润

• regulator [四级]

  美[ˈreɡjuleɪtər] | 英[ˈreɡjuleɪtə(r)]

  n. 调整者；调整器；监管机构

• causal [六级]

  美[ˈkɔzəl] | 英[ˈkɔ:zl]

  adj. 原因的；关于因果的

• profitability [六级]

  美[ˌprɑfɪtəˈbɪlətɪ] | 英[ˌprɒfɪtə'bɪlətɪ]

  n. 收益性；盈利能力

• outperform [六级]

  美[ˌaʊtpərˈfɔːrm] | 英[ˌaʊtpəˈfɔːm]

  v. 优于；超额完成；过度执行

• boon [专八]

  美[buːn] | 英[buːn]

  n. 恩惠；所感激的事 adj. 合得来的

• constitutional [考研]

  美[ˌkɑnstəˈtuʃənl] | 英[ˌkɒnstɪˈtju:ʃənl]

  adj. 宪法的；合乎宪法的；体质的；组成的 n. 散步保健

• non [考研]

  美[nɒn] | 英[nɒn]

  adv. [拉]非；不是

• governance [考研]

  美[ˈɡʌvərnəns] | 英[ˈɡʌvənəns]

  n. 统治；支配；管理

• had better [考研]

  美[hæd ˈbɛtɚ] | 英[hæd ˈbetə]

  应该； 最好； 还是 ... 好

重点讲解

Women make**** up**** half**** of**** humankind,**** and it**** is**** reasonable**** for representative**** institutions**** such**** as**** corporate boards**** to**** reflect this****.****

女性占全人类的一半，企业董事会等代表性机构反映出这一比例也是合理的。

get onto

1. 当选（委员会、政治组织等）的成员

【例】She was quite keen to get onto the management committee.

她很想进入管理委员会。

2. 发觉，识破（某人进行不良勾当）

【例】How did the police get onto him?

警方是怎么发现他的？

3. 开始谈论（新话题）；着手处理

【例】After a few minutes they got onto the subject of the election.

几分钟后他们谈起了选举这个话题。

In**** 2022**** the European**** Parliament**** ruled that**** at**** least 40****%**** of**** non-executive directors at**** firms with**** more**** than**** 250 employees should**** be**** women by**** 2026****.****

2022 年，欧洲议会规定，到2026年，员工超过250人的公司中，非执行董事至少40%为女性。

get onto

1. 当选（委员会、政治组织等）的成员

【例】She was quite keen to get onto the management committee.

她很想进入管理委员会。

2. 发觉，识破（某人进行不良勾当）

【例】How did the police get onto him?

警方是怎么发现他的？

3. 开始谈论（新话题）；着手处理

【例】After a few minutes they got onto the subject of the election.

几分钟后他们谈起了选举这个话题。

Britain’s FTSE 350 companies hit that mark last year, on average. Japan, where only 18% of directors are women, recently told big businesses to get to 30% by 2030.

去年，英国富时350指数公司的平均水平达到了这一标准。日本只有18%的董事是女性，最近才要求大企业到2030年将这一比例提高到30%。

hit/miss the mark 达到／没有达到效果

【例】Although it contains a certain amount of truth, this theory ultimately misses the mark.

这个理论虽然有一定的道理，但从根本上来说还是没有说透彻。

【拓展】be off the mark 不准确，相去甚远

【例】No, you're way off the mark.

不行，你根本没说到重点。

be close to/near the mark （猜测、陈述等）接近准确，几乎无误

【例】His next guess was closer to the mark.

接下来这次他猜得更准确一些。

America's constitutional dislike of quotas dooms similar efforts. But its markets regulator wants firms to disclose diversity statistics, which may shame some into action.

美国宪法对配额的厌恶注定了在美国类似的努力会失败。但美国市场监管机构希望企业披露多样性统计数据，这可能可以激励一些企业采取行动。

quota n.

1.限额；定额

【例】The government has imposed quotas on the export of timber.

政府已对木材出口实行配额制。

2.指标；定额

【例】Each person was given a quota of tickets to sell.

每个人都被分派了售票的指标。

doom v. & n.

1. 作动词：使…注定（失败、死亡等）

【例】The plan was doomed to failure.

这个计划注定要失败。

2. 作名词：（不可避免的）厄运；劫数

【例】to meet your doom 死亡

【拓展】doom and gloom 前景暗淡，悲观失望

【例】Despite these poor figures, it’s not all doom and gloom.

尽管这些数字很糟糕，但还不至于说一点希望也没有。

shame sb into (doing sth) 使某人羞愧而不得不做（某事）

【例】She shamed her father into promising more help.

她使父亲感到过意不去，只好答应多给她些帮助。

Our annual**** “glass****-ceiling index”, which ranks OECD**** members on**** ten indicators**** of**** female**** workplace empowerment (and**** can be**** found at**** economist.com/glassceiling****), shows all this**** is**** having**** an**** effect****.****

我们的年度“玻璃天花板指数”对经合组织成员国的十项女性职场赋权指标进行了排名（详见此网页），结果表明，所有这些努力正在产生积极影响。

Across the club of mostly rich countries, women’s share of directorships reached 33% in 2023, an all-time high. In France, New Zealand and Norway it is nudging 50%.

在主要由富裕国家组成的俱乐部中，女性担任董事的比例到2023年达到 33%，创历史新高。在法国、新西兰和挪威，这一比例正逐渐趋近50%。

nudge v. & n.

1. 作动词

（1）（用肘）轻推，轻触

【例】Jill nudged him in the ribs.

吉尔用胳膊肘轻轻碰了一下他的肋部。

（2）轻推移动，推开

【例】David nudged me out of the way.

戴维把我轻轻推向一边。

（3）（使）达到，接近

【例】Inflation is nudging 20%.

通货膨胀即将达到 20%

2. 作名词：（肘部的）轻推，碰

【例】He can work hard but he needs a nudge now and then.

他能够努力工作，但偶尔需要督促一下。

Is there a business case for more female boards, as well as a moral one?

增加女性董事比例，除了道德上的考量，是否也有商业上的原因呢？

quartile n. 四分位数；四分位值

【例】women in the fourth quartile of height (= the shortest 25% of women)

身高在第四个四分位值的妇女（即最矮的 25% 妇女）

In 2020 consultants at McKinsey found that firms in the top quartile for board gender diversity were 25% likelier to outperform their industry average than those in the bottom quartile.

2020 年，麦肯锡公司的顾问发现，董事会性别多样性排名前四分之一的公司比排名后四分之一的公司，业绩上超过行业平均水平的可能性高出25%。

quartile n. 四分位数；四分位值

【例】women in the fourth quartile of height (= the shortest 25% of women)

身高在第四个四分位值的妇女（即最矮的 25% 妇女）

Studies have found that appointment of a woman as boss can boost a firm’s share price and price-to-earnings ratio (though not its return on assets).

研究发现，任命女性为领导者可以提高公司的股价和市盈率（尽管不能提高资产回报率）。

quartile n. 四分位数；四分位值

【例】women in the fourth quartile of height (= the shortest 25% of women)

身高在第四个四分位值的妇女（即最矮的 25% 妇女）

Yet so many factors influence a firm’s profitability that proving a causal link between representation and performance is next to impossible; companies that perform well for other reasons may have the luxury to also pay attention to things like diversity, for example.

然而，影响公司盈利情况的因素很多，所以几乎无法证明性别代表性与绩效之间的因果关系。例如，业绩好的公司可能也有机会关注多样性等问题。

next to

1. 紧邻；在…近旁

【例】We sat next to each other.

我们紧挨着坐在一起。

2. 几乎

【例】Charles knew next to nothing about farming.

查尔斯对耕作几乎一无所知。

3. 仅次于，在…之后

【例】Next to skiing my favourite sport is skating.

我最喜欢的运动除了滑雪就是溜冰。

4. 与…相比

【例】Next to her, I’m a very poor cook.

和她比起来，我的厨艺太差了。

afford/have/enjoy the luxury of something 难得能享受…的机会

【例】For the first time in three years, they actually had the luxury of a whole day together.

三年来他们第一次有这样难得的机会，可以一整天都在一起。

So instead, Margarethe Wiersema of the University of California, Irvine, and Marie Louise Mors of Copenhagen Business School interviewed directors at 200 big companies in Europe and America.

因此，加州大学欧文分校的玛格丽特·威尔斯玛（Margarethe Wiersema）和哥本哈根商学院的玛丽·路易斯·莫尔斯（Marie Louise Mors）采访了欧美200 家大公司的董事。

probe v. & n.

1. 作动词

（1）追问；探究

【例】He didn't like the media probing into his past.

他不喜欢媒体追问他的过去。

（2）（用细长工具）探查，查看

【例】The doctor probed the wound for signs of infection.

医生检查伤口是否有感染的迹象。

2. 作名词：探究；详尽调查；探测器

【例】a police corruption probe 对警察贪污行为的彻底调查

mitigate v. 减轻；缓和

【例】Measures need to be taken to mitigate the environmental effects of burning more coal.

需要采取措施来减轻燃煤增加对环境造成的影响。

【拓展】alleviate v. 减轻；缓和

【例】a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu 一种减轻流感症状的新药

boon n. 非常有用的东西；益处

【例】The bus service is really a boon to people in the village.

公共汽车服务对村里的人来说是一大便利之处。

They found that women are consistently better prepared for board meetings, had better attendance rates and were more willing to ask probing questions.

她们发现，女性董事在准备董事会会议方面始终表现更好，出席率更高，并且更愿意提出探究性问题。

probe v. & n.

1. 作动词

（1）追问；探究

【例】He didn't like the media probing into his past.

他不喜欢媒体追问他的过去。

（2）（用细长工具）探查，查看

【例】The doctor probed the wound for signs of infection.

医生检查伤口是否有感染的迹象。

2. 作名词：探究；详尽调查；探测器

【例】a police corruption probe 对警察贪污行为的彻底调查

mitigate v. 减轻；缓和

【例】Measures need to be taken to mitigate the environmental effects of burning more coal.

需要采取措施来减轻燃煤增加对环境造成的影响。

【拓展】alleviate v. 减轻；缓和

【例】a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu 一种减轻流感症状的新药

boon n. 非常有用的东西；益处

【例】The bus service is really a boon to people in the village.

公共汽车服务对村里的人来说是一大便利之处。

Female directors in other words, are “setting a higher standard and mitigating the problem of groupthink”. That should be a boon for corporate governance.

换句话说，女性董事正在“设定更高的标准，并减轻了集体错觉问题”。这对企业管理来说应该是一个福音。

probe v. & n.

1. 作动词

（1）追问；探究

【例】He didn't like the media probing into his past.

他不喜欢媒体追问他的过去。

（2）（用细长工具）探查，查看

【例】The doctor probed the wound for signs of infection.

医生检查伤口是否有感染的迹象。

2. 作名词：探究；详尽调查；探测器

【例】a police corruption probe 对警察贪污行为的彻底调查

mitigate v. 减轻；缓和

【例】Measures need to be taken to mitigate the environmental effects of burning more coal.

需要采取措施来减轻燃煤增加对环境造成的影响。

【拓展】alleviate v. 减轻；缓和

【例】a new medicine to alleviate the symptoms of flu 一种减轻流感症状的新药

boon n. 非常有用的东西；益处

【例】The bus service is really a boon to people in the village.

公共汽车服务对村里的人来说是一大便利之处。

课后练习

• What approach is the United States taking to increase gender diversity in corporate boards?

  A. Punishing companies that fail to achieve the diversity goals.

  B. Devising new laws to increase the number of female directors.

  C. Imposing quotas for female representation on corporate boards.

  D. Encouraging companies to publish their gender diversity statistics.

• What effect do the measures taken by various countries have according to the "glass-ceiling index"?

  A. They have led to a decrease in the share of directorships held by women.

  B. They have significantly increased the share of directorships held by women.

  C. They have impacted the share of directorships held by women across the world.

  D. They have had no significant impact on the share of directorships held by women.

• What does the author think about McKinsey's findings?

  A. The author agrees that gender diversity leads to better firm performance.

  B. The author believes that gender diversity has no impact on firm performance.

  C. The author suggests that gender diversity is the most important factor in profitability.

  D. The author is skeptical about the causal link between gender diversity and performance.

• What did Margarethe Wiersema and Marie Louise Mors discover about female directors?

  A. Female directors were less likely to speak their minds at board meetings.

  B. Female directors were more likely to hold board meetings than male directors.

  C. Female directors could make board meetings more successful.

  D. Female directors tended to have a closer bond with the group.