Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | February 5, 2018 | wbjournal.com Women comprise a disproportionately low percentage of Central Mass. business leadership positions BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor F or more than two decades, each time Robert Shillman has sat down at a board of directors meeting as the founder and executive of the Natick laser manufacturer Cognex, he's looked across the table and seen nothing but men. In a male-dominated industry, Cognex hasn't employed a female direc- tor or top executive since at least 1995. It isn't alone among Central Massachusetts public companies. Southborough electric parts supplier Sevcon and Athol tool maker L.S. Starrett haven't had a woman in such a role during the same two-decade-plus period, and Westborough information- technology firm Virtusa hasn't had a female director or senior executive since at least 2008. In the past 22 years, Acton drug-test maker Psychemedics has had only one woman hold a senior executive role, and she was in that position for just one year – a decade ago. "That's pathetic," Judith Nitsch, a Worcester Polytechnic Institute gradu- ate and founder of Nitsch Engineering, said of the Central Massachusetts record for gender equality in business leadership positions. Over the course of three months, Worcester Business Journal conducted an examination of the gender makeup of the 1,527 top executives and board members at 75 prominent Central Massachusetts business organizations – including public and private compa- nies, hospitals, colleges, social service nonprofits and financial institutions – based on their filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as their own websites. WBJ's examination found while the overall number of women in Central Massachusetts business leadership positions may appear to achieve an acceptable threshold for gender diver- sity – 33 percent – the figure is skewed by a handful of organizations (mostly social service nonprofits) and the gen- der mix at for-profit firms is particu- larly low, especially in CEO positions. "Inertia is a very powerful force. Companies have been doing the same thing for a long time and some compa- nies, frankly, for insecurity, they don't want a diversity of views on their board, and I think that's a sign of weakness," said Tim Van Dyck, an employment attorney with Worcester- based law firm Bowditch & Dewey. Cognex, Psychmedics, L.S. Starrett and Sevcon did not return calls for this story. Virtusa declined to comment. The Boardroom Gap FIRST IN A 3-PART SERIES Fewer seats at the TABLE

• Cover