Exercise 5. Complete the text with active vocabulary

A) on their boards

B) executive women

C) non-profit

D) outperform

E) board seats

F) shouldnʼt be recruiting

G) better corporate performance

H) the lack of women on boards

I) return on equity

J) capital

K) old boyʼs network

L) perspective

A study just released by Watermark, a 1.______________ community of 2.______________, and the

University of California at Davis Graduate School of Management revealed that in California, among the 400

largest public companies, only 10 percent of board seats were held by women—and more than 33 percent

had no women 3. ____________ at all.

This isnʼt just a California problem, says Watermark CEO Marilyn Nagel. She points to a new study of

Fortune 500 companies just released by Catalyst showing women hold only 16.1 percent of

4._____________, and 10 percent have no women on their boards.

This shouldn't be the case in a world where women make 85 percent of household purchasing decisions,

and hold 51 percent of the countryʼs private wealth, says Nigel. And making it worse, another Catalyst study

indicates "sustained gender diversity in the boardroom correlates with 5._______________ ―and not by just

a little.” The survey asserts companies with women board directors consistently 6. _________________

corporations without women on the board in the areas of 7._______________, return on sales, and return on

invested 8._________________.

Entrepreneur Gary Whitehill, who sits on advisory boards of F100 companies including Dell and AOL, agrees

9. ______________ “absolutely hurts corporations. The data is clear,” he says, “there is a strong correlation

between corporate financial performance and gender diversity in leadership.”

So why, in 2012 does this inequity persist? Nagel suggests the still-existent 10. _______________ doesnʼt

appreciate the value and diversity of thought adding women to their boards would bring. This 11.

____________ is echoed by Jeanne M. Sullivan, a general partner at StarVest, the nationʼs largest womenowned

venture fund. Sullivan believes boards need to recognize that they 12. _____________ members

based on subject-matter knowledge (technology, financing, etc.), but rather should be seeking “effective

leaders.” And she adds women need to learn to be more effective and, “find their voices, synthesize their

opinions, and mentor other women” to do the same.

Exercise 6. Read the articles. Explain the underlined words. Discuss the articles with your fellowstudents