Few Women, Minorities Serve on Boards, Study Finds

Despite a growing number of women and minorities in the workplace, the directors of corporate boards remain mostly white and male, according to a new report on Fortune 100 companies and their boards.

Women and minorities together account for less than a third of the directors on more than 60 percent of the boards examined, according to the report.

"There are very, very small numbers of representatives on these boards," said Ilene H. Lang, president of Catalyst, a New York organization that tracks women's progress in the workplace. "The business case for diversity on boards is very strong and compelling. . . . We document that in the highest levels of corporations, there is under-representation as compared to lower levels in organizations."

The study was compiled by the new Alliance for Board Diversity, a collaboration of Catalyst; the Executive Leadership Council, formed in 1986 to increase African American representation in the workplace; and the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, whose mission is to increase inclusion of Hispanics in corporations.

As of Sept. 30, women claimed 200 of 1,196 board directorships, while men accounted for 996, or 83 percent, of board membership. Minorities held 178 director positions, or 15 percent. Blacks held 120 board seats, with 27 of those held by women. Hispanics held 46 seats, or 4 percent, with women holding six of those positions. Asian Americans, meanwhile, held just 12 seats, with women holding only three seats.

Lang said many of the same minorities serve on multiple boards.

Only four boards -- those of DuPont, PepsiCo Inc., Walt Disney Co. and General Electric Co. -- included both black and Latino members as well as women. Eight companies have more than half of their board members from those groups, including Alcoa Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., WellPoint Health Networks Inc., Albertson's Inc., DuPont, Target Corp., and United Parcel Service Inc.

Bonnie G. Hill, an black woman who sits on Albertson's and five other corporate boards, said the study points out a "continued need to get women and minorities on boards, particularly given the fact women and minorities have done exceedingly well in corporate America."

She thinks the paucity of women and minorities on boards points to the theory that "we pick those who closely resemble us. I think it's an awareness that has to be brought to the forefront."

"It's important to understand where the gaps are," Hill said. "Without a doubt, you'll fill them with women and minorities."