A new study published Thursday found that the number of women and people of color sitting on the nation’s largest companies’ corporate boards increased by 38% in 2022.
Fortune 500 companies had 44.7% of women and people of color in board seats in 2022, up 38% from 2020, according to the seventh edition of “Missing Pieces,” a report published by the management consulting firm Deloitte and the Alliance for Board Diversity.
Overall, people of color on boards grew from 17.5% in 2020 to 22.2% in 2022. Black people netted the largest gains, from 8.7% to 11.9%, Asian/Pacific Islanders saw their numbers grow from 4.6% to 5.4% and Latinos increased from 4.1% to 4.7%.
Growth, but still lagging
“The findings from this year’s report show gradual steps in the right direction, but at this pace, U.S. top corporate boards might not represent the nation’s population until 2060,” Carey Oven, national managing partner of Deloitte’s Center for Board Effectiveness, said in the report. “Board diversity and inclusion isn’t only the right thing to do; it is a business imperative that builds broad stakeholder trust that ultimately can lead to better business outcomes.”
White men held the largest share of corporate board seats at 55.3%. Women held 30% of board seats in 2022, up from 26.5% in 2020. Black women saw the largest percentage increase at 47%, gaining 86 board seats since 2020. Asian/Pacific Islander women gained 24 seats, a 27% increase and Latinas added 14 seats, an increase of 23.7%.
Cid Wilson, president and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, an advocacy group promoting more Latino inclusion in corporate America, told NBC News that Latino board representation hasn’t shifted much in almost 20 years.
“It’s a significant concern that we have given the fact that not only has our community grown in population, we’re now the fifth largest economy in the world,” he said. “Corporate America needs to acculturate to a growingly…
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