The familiar image of men sitting around a boardroom table is no longer representative of the winning business model, according to the latest 2007 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of the FP 500: Voices from the Boardroom, released Monday.

In fact, the study suggests that the persistent under-representation of women on corporate boards and the extremely slow pace of change might have disturbing implications for company performance and governance in Canada.

The study found that women represent 13% of corporate board seats in the FP 500, an increase of only one percentage point since 2005. Over 40% of FP 500 companies in Canada have no women directors on their boards.

“The tendency for boards to recruit from the same narrow pool of candidates acts as a barrier to women seeking board seats,” says Catalyst vp North America, Deborah Gillis. “Board chairs, CEOs and corporate governance chairs are in unique positions to jump-start the process and drive change. By championing gender diversity and looking beyond the C-suite and FP 500 boards to find qualified women directors, they can provide a better, more transparent environment in which Canadian businesses can succeed.”

Previous research from Catalyst shows that, on average, companies with more women on corporate boards financially outperform those with the fewest.

Although progress is slow, the Census study did reveal small signs of progress:

> The number of companies with multiple women directors increased by 2.5%age points since 2005 to 28.5%.

> Women’s representation as board chairs increased 1.3%age points since 2005 to 3.4%.

> The percentage of key public company board committee chairs held by women rose one percentage point to 6.8%.