US boardroom diversity issues 'not simple to solve'

Problems with boardroom diversity levels in the US are likely to be difficult to solve due to their complexity, according to a business expert.

Carol Murphy, a managing director at financial services company Aon in Chicago, told attendees at the recent Business Insurance 2011 Women to Watch Awards workshop that the pipeline for female executives is "broken or leaky at best".

According to data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the ratio of men to women in chief executive officer positions has remained largely flat in recent years, while the gulf in pay rates has widened.

Experts at the Business Insurance conference identified the need for women in leading positions to offer mentor support to up-and-coming staff, while Ms Murphy said it is a problem that needs to be fought actively.

"It's multifactorial - it's not a simple problem with a simple solution," she warned.

This comes after a report from the Conference Board earlier this year suggested that improvements to boardroom diversity among Fortune 500 companies in recent years have been "painfully slow".