Following the national uprising over the murder of George Floyd, corporations sought out more women and people of color to diversify their boards of directors.
For a time, the once ironclad dominance of men – especially White men – in the corporate boardroom appeared to be slipping. Over the last five years, racial and ethnic representation rose 20% and female representation 18% in companies included in the Russell 3000 index, according to data and analytics firm ISS-Corporate.Today, the boardrooms of the nation’s largest companies have never been more diverse.
But new data shows that the diversity, equity and inclusion backlash is shifting boardroom demographics once again, eroding gains made by women and people of color as corporations hire White men at the fastest clip in years.
This year, women accounted for a third of new board hires in the S&P 500, down from a high of 44% in 2022, ISS-Corporate says. Executives of color made up 19% of new board hires, down from 44% in 2021.
White men were a majority of new director hires for the first time since 2017. These top leadership posts confer prestige, power and a big paycheck.
