The usual arguments for adding women directors are that diverse boards are more creative and innovative, less inclined to "group

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问题     The usual arguments for adding women directors are that diverse boards are more creative and innovative, less inclined to "groupthink" and likely to be more independent from senior management. Numerous studies show that high proportions of women directors coincide with superior corporate performance. But there is little academically accepted evidence of a causal relationship. It may be that thriving firms allow themselves the luxury of attending to social issues such as board diversity, whereas poorly performing ones batten down the hatches.
    Women do seem to be particularly effective board members at companies where things are going wrong. A 2008 paper on the impact of female directors by Renee Adams and Daniel Ferreira of the University of Queensland and the London School of Economics found that bosses of American firms whose shares perform poorly are more likely to be fired if the firm has a relatively high number of women directors. On average, however, the paper concluded that firms perform worse as the proportion of women on the board increases. There is certainly no shortage of companies capable of producing outstanding results with few or no women on the board.
    Nor is there any doubt that in many cases low female representation also reflects a lack of meritocracy (rule by merit) in corporate culture. In France, for instance, interlocking board memberships are common. Women, and many other deserving businesspeople, are excluded from the system.
    But what most prevents women from reaching the boardroom, say bosses and headhunters, is lack of hands-on experience of a firm’s core business. Too many women go into functional roles such as accounting, marketing or human resources early in their careers rather than staying in the mainstream, driving profits. Getting men to show up at every board meeting—an effect of having more women on boards—is all very well, but what firms really need is savvy business advice. Yet according to EPWN, the pipeline of female executives is "almost empty": women occupy only 3% of executive roles on boards, compared with 12% of non-executive ones.
    That suggests that the best way to increase the number of women on boards is to ensure that more women gain the right experience further down the corporate hierarchy. That may be a slower process than imposing a quota, but it is also likely to be a more meaningful and effective one.
According to EPWN, the best way to increase the number of female board directors is to _____.

选项 A、break down the corporate hierarchy
B、impose a gender percentage that favors women
C、slow the process of promotion of female executives
D、equip potential female candidates with core experience

答案D

解析 题干中的专有名词EPWN出现在第四段④句,解答本题需同时结合第四、第五段的内容。第四段的主题是阻止女性进入董事会的最大障碍是缺乏与公司核心业务相关的经验,EPWN提供的数据说明女性掌管行政的人数比例太少,正好说明该论点;第五段①句就此问题提出了建议,即ensure that more women gain the right experience...”确保更多的女性得到有用的经验”,这里的right experience与第四段①句中的hands-on experience of a firm’s core business对应,D项所述与此相符,故为本题答案。
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