Worcester Business Journal

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LIVE WELL. 370 MAIN STREET, SUITE 1000, WORCESTER, MA 01608 | 508.753.8807 Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network ® , Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Worcester State University, Worcester 8 of 11 5 of 9 65% Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg 8 of 11 4 of 9 60% Total Central Mass. college average 115 of 312 (37%) 56 of 123 (46%) 171 of 435 (39%) Hologic, Marlborough 4 of 8 1 of 9 29% TJX Cos., Framingham/Marlborough 4 of 11 1 of 6 29% Total Central Mass. public company average 22 of 141 (16%) 6 of 78 (8%) 28 of 219 (13%) Heywood Hospital, Gardner 5 of 20 8 of 12 41% Spectrum Health Systems, Worcester 4 of 14 7 of 11 44% Total entral Mass. healthcare average 36 of 139 (26%) 38 of 92 (41%) 74 of 231 (32%) Total Central Mass. 313 of 987 (33%) 195 of 540 (36%) 508 of 1,527 (33%) The Central Mass. Boardroom Gap & leading local firms Female Female Percent female Central Mass. sector board members executives leaders Source: Feb. 5 Worcester Business Journal report on area institutions. Notes: The total includes private corporations and social service nonprofits. Spectrum Health Systems was not included in initial Feb.5 report. Boardroom Gap series, on WBJournal.com n Part 1 • WBJ's Findings: Women vastly underrepresented in Central Mass. corporate leadership • The Pay Gap: Central Mass. male executives make $1.3M vs. $573K for women • Editorial Opinion: The importance of diversity • Letter from the Editor: Can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results n Part 2 • Feeling marginalized – Central Mass. businesswomen who've sat in positions of power say they don't get the same automatic credibility as men • Gender diversity = Profits – Companies with a greater mix of women in leadership perform better • Recruit a pipeline of diverse directors before seats open. • Specify in writing desired qualities in new directors. • Require search firms to include women and minorities among candidates. • Consider age or term limits to create more board openings. • Establish clear leadership on diversity from the CEO, board chair, and nominating and governance committee chairs. • Explain to investors what happens in the boardroom and frame diversity as a performance issue. Source: Massachusetts Office of State Treasurer & Receiver Tips on how to be more gender diverse Last year, Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg held three roundtable discus- sions with corporate executives, board directors and advocates. Her office then came up with a report highlighting tips from participants for diversifying corporate boards. those who are best for the job," Lapidus said, "but it's important at the same time to make sure we try to cast a wide net and be as inclusive as possible." Women make up 53 percent of Fitchburg State's undergraduates and 77 percent of graduate students. In order to increase the gender diversity among WSU's leadership, Maloney said when positions open on the board of trustees he's made it a practice to submit a diverse pool of candidates for consideration to be appointed by the governor. For WSU's administrative positions, Maloney makes sure to have have a diversity of members on search com- mittees. He's hired four female admin- istrators and two male administrators. Spectrum Health Systems, a Worcester-based inpatient and residen- tial health treatment nonprofit, has seven women among its top 11 execu- tives, including its chief financial offi- cer and chief operating office. "If you have a group of homogenous people around a conference room, and all thinking the same way, you're only going to get one answer and one solution to a problem," Kurt Isaacson, Spectrum's president and CEO since 2016. Gender diversity among Spectrum's leadership mirrors its workforce as a whole, which is 60 percent female. Women tend to make most of the healthcare decisions for their family, he said, and having more women in the executive ranks helps bring what Isaacson called "emotional literacy." "They're more expressive about their passion for the business and its mission, whereas men are more reserved," Isaacson said. Maloney said as WSU's leadership has become more gender balanced, the organization has attracted more candi- dates who value that quality. The same is true at Nitsch Engineering, a private company found- ed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduate Judith Nitsch in 1989. Nitsch has worked to appoint women to roles that might often otherwise go to men. The company has flexible schedules for families, and has women in 39 percent of its engineering positions, double the national average, she said. "We are pretty different as far as firms go," Nitsch said. "Women seek us out because they see women at the top." The Heywood Hosptial leadership team (from left) Helen Heneghan, Dawn Casavant, Rebecca Bialecki, Robert Crosby, Tina Griffin, Winfield Brown, Andrew Patterson, Tina Santos, Bruce Bertrand, Carol Roosa, Rose Kavalchuck and Sari Miettinen. W

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