Statistics saying what you want them to say ...
The Observer, on Sunday March 19th said:
"Of the US Fortune 500 companies, 84 per cent now have women on their boards; in the UK among directors of companies in the FTSE 100, only 9 per cent are women."
And we might ask: "So What?"
If every FTSE 100 company had 11 board members, and one of those was a woman, then 100 percent of FTSE 100 companies would have a female board member, and still only 9 per cent would be women.
If 84% of F500 companies have a woman on the board, and every board has 20 members, then 4% of F500 board members are women.
This is an example of the ecological fallacy. The fallacy occurs when we believe that something which is true at a high level (e.g. the group) is also true at a lower level (the individual).
Update: 26 March, 06. I sent this to The Observer, and they published it.
Update: 8 June, 06: This also appeared in Chance News as a Forsooth! article, and they reprinted the letter from The Observer as an explanation.
"Of the US Fortune 500 companies, 84 per cent now have women on their boards; in the UK among directors of companies in the FTSE 100, only 9 per cent are women."
And we might ask: "So What?"
If every FTSE 100 company had 11 board members, and one of those was a woman, then 100 percent of FTSE 100 companies would have a female board member, and still only 9 per cent would be women.
If 84% of F500 companies have a woman on the board, and every board has 20 members, then 4% of F500 board members are women.
This is an example of the ecological fallacy. The fallacy occurs when we believe that something which is true at a high level (e.g. the group) is also true at a lower level (the individual).
Update: 26 March, 06. I sent this to The Observer, and they published it.
Update: 8 June, 06: This also appeared in Chance News as a Forsooth! article, and they reprinted the letter from The Observer as an explanation.
