Women And People Of Color Hold More Than Half Board Seats For First Time
Women and non-white men hold 50.2% of over 5,500 board seats at S&P 500 companies, for the first ever, according to data compiled for Bloomberg by ISS-Corporate. Compared to five years ago, white men comprised nearly 60% of the directorships.
This is significant as President Donald Trump has caused a DEI purge in the country. “It’s amazing that the shift in boards is occurring at the same time DEI is being dismantled in lots of organizations,” said David Larcker, a professor who studies corporate governance at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
White men are the now minority on company boards
White men are now a minority on around 57% of company boards and chairs of key board committees that help pick new directors and chief executive officers and set compensation.
In addition, over a dozen S&P 500 companies, including Coca-Cola Co., Cooper Cos., and Williams-Sonoma Inc., currently have majority-led boards by women. Bloomberg data highlights that women account for 34% of the board seats at S&P 500 companies. ISS-Corporate reported that Black directors currently have 12% of the seats, making them the first underrepresented group to reach a level similar to their share of the broader US population.
On the other hand, Hispanic directors hold around 6% of seats, far below their estimated 18% share of the population. Though white men are now a minority, they are still overrepresented on S&P boards compared to their share of the US population.
The future for people of color
The US Census expects that the non-white population will become the country’s majority by about 2040. White people will remain the largest single group, followed by the Hispanic population. US Census estimates show the Black population is projected to hold steady.
Michelle Duguid, an associate professor at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, finds it tricky to see how the change in director demographics will affect the boardroom. Women and men of color will probably have majority control over S&P 500 boards, and they will also have more influence over who gets considered for future board seats, Duguid said.
Image: Nappystock
