It is not unusual for even large corporate boards to have no women or minorities on them. In the U.S., women held 16 percent of board seats at Fortune 500 companies in 2012. In her 2013 book, Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg points out that this number has been flat for 10 years—or, as she puts it, there has been no progress in the past 10 years. In Europe, of the total number of board members in Britain, only 12 percent were women; Spain, France, and Germany all had less than 10 percent. In Norway, by contrast, female members comprised 40 percent of the boards.

So how did Norway do it? In 2005, the government of Norway gave public firms two years to change their boards’ composition from 9 percent female to 40 percent female. Is this a good idea? Spain, Italy, France, and the Netherlands must think so: Each country is considering implementing a similar quota (though generally with more than two years to implement it).

Why has representation by women on U.S. boards not increased over the past 10 years?

What actions could be taken by companies to increase participation?

What actions could be taken by women who seek to be directors?