Source: Instagram - ccustode, belenleste
Drawing heavy traditional and social media coverage, a small statue of a girl that landed last week in Manhattan's Financial District has sparked a wide discussion on the need for greater influence from women in corporate America.
Standing defiantly, hands on hips, the 50-inch bronze girl stares at the famous 11-foot, 7,000-pound “Charging Bull” sculpture on Bowling Green. A plaque on the ground in front of the statue reads, “Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference.”
State Street Global Advisors in partnership with McCann New York placed the “Fearless Girl” statue the day before International Women's Day to encourage companies to increase the number of women on their boards.
Although some progress has been made, one out of every four Russell 3000 companies are without a single woman on their board, and nearly 60 percent have fewer than 15 percent women directors. State Street pointed to a study from MSCI that found companies with strong female leadership generated a return on equity of 10.1 percent per year versus 7.4 percent for those without a critical mass of women at the top. The money manager plans to vote against board nominations if more women aren’t voted to boards.
Said Chris Ailman, chief investment officer, CalSTRS, one of the largest public pension funds, in State Street’s statement, “This statue boldly signals to financial markets that the future depends on investing in the power of women.”
The statue has drawn flocks of people to Wall Street to take pictures that have spread across social media. More than 15,000 people have signed an online petition to make the statue a permanent downtown fixture.
Spencer Stuart’s 11th edition of the Retail & Apparel Board Index last year found women constitute 21 percent of all directors on the boards of the 112 largest U.S. retail and apparel companies on the S&P 500 versus 20 percent of all S&P 500 boards.
According to a study last year from Catalyst, women made up three percent of the CEOs and 30.1 percent of executive/senior-level officials and managers of retailers in the S&P 500.
- State Street Global Advisors Calls on 3,500 Companies Representing More Than $30 Trillion in Market Capitalization to Increase Number of Women on Corporate Boards – State Street Global Advisors
- Women On Boards: Global Trends In Gender Diversity – MSCI
- Petition grows to keep 'Fearless Girl' on Wall Street – Campaign US
- Fearless Girl – Wikipedia
- Statue of Girl Confronts Bull, Captivating Manhattanites and Social Media – The New York Times
- Make Wall Street's Fearless Girl Permanent – Change.org
- 11th Annual Retail & Apparel Board Index – Spencer Stuart