Restaurant chains may talk about the importance of being relevant to women, but “an astoundingly low number” don’t reflect that consideration in the composition of their boardrooms, according to a study by Aethos Consulting Group.
A review by Aethos of the directors currently serving on the boards of 45 public restaurant companies found fewer than one in every five seats is occupied by a woman. Nine of the companies did not have a female director, and 23 had one.
However, Aethos noted that the restaurant business is hardly unusual in having only 18 percent of board seats occupied by the gender accounting for more than half of consumers. Across all industries, the representation of woman is only 20 percent, it noted.
The consultancy also observed that a number of restaurant companies have a near balance of the sexes in their board rooms. At Ignite Restaurant Group, parent of Joe’s Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern and Tap, three of the seven directors are women. Outback parent Bloomin’ Brands, one of the few restaurant companies to have a female CEO, has three women occupying seats on its eight-person board.
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