The pace for women joining corporate boards in Q3 2022 stalled or remained flat, according to the latest report from 50/50 Women on Boards.
The data provided by Equilar, shows that it’s the lowest quarter-over-quarter progress since the first six months of 2020. As of 30 September 2022, women held just 28.2% of the Russell 3000 corporate board seats. Only a 0.2 percentage point increase from the previous quarter and a 2.1 percentage point increase from the prior year. Just 37% of the 531 directors who joined boards in Q3 2022 were women. This is the lowest percentage of women since the first six months of 2020.
STALLING PROGRESS
In Q3 2021, the rate of women joining boards reached an all-time high of 48%, 11 percentage points higher than this year. Also, 88% of the seats gained by women were seats added to a board, not replacing or waiting for a man to retire. Only 11% of Russell 3,000 companies have gender-balanced boards. Around 43% (1267) have three or more women on boards, up from 1230 from last quarter. And almost half (46%), have two or less women on their boards.
The numbers for all people of colour on boards have slowly increased since Q4 2021 to 16%, represented by 6.5% women of colour and 9.8% men of colour. However, based on the US population, Hispanic/Latino people are still the least represented on boards.
Some sectors are better than others when it comes to women on boards. The utility and consumer sectors have 30% or more women on boards, compared to industries like energy which only have 23%.
BOLD ACTION NEEDED
To speed up progress, 50/50 Women on Boards, is calling for bold action. Organisations can help by:
- Creating flexible work environments to retain women, including women of colour.
- Stamping out subconscious and unconscious bias, racism, practices or behaviours that discourage women from advancing in their careers.
- Getting involved with professional associations or networks to identify diverse candidates.
- Investing in women employees or clients and supporting their path to the boardroom.
- Actively supporting organisations such as 50/50 Women on Boards, whose educational programmes strategically accelerate women.
MALE ALLIES
Men can help too by being allies, and:
- Actively mentoring and promoting women to leadership positions.
- Sharing best practices and committing to diversity and gender balance.
- Identifying unconscious or direct biases and addressing them with other men.
- Calling upon women, including women of colour, in discussions to create an environment that encourages collaboration.
- Giving women credit for their work, especially up the leadership chain, and actively listening and implementing their recommendations.
- Recruiting women to lead high-profile projects.
- Advocating for women within your company and to your networks.
Check out the report findings here.
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