Corporate Boardroom Diversity: Why Are We Still Talking About This?
17 The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice 219 (2015)
86 Pages Posted: 30 Apr 2012 Last revised: 18 Jan 2016
Date Written: April 30, 2014
Abstract
What exactly is board diversity and why does it matter? How does diversity fit in an attempt to build the best board for any organization? What attributes and skills are required by law and what mix of experiences and talents provide the best corporate governance? Even though most companies say they are looking for diversity, why has there been such little progress? Are required director attributes, which are a must for all boards, consistent with future diversity gains and aligned with achieving high performance and optimal board composition? How might women and people of color best cultivate these skills necessary to make themselves attractive candidates and productive board directors?
My goal is to provide answers to these questions, and to discuss how a nominating committee and board can define their needs, explore their options, and provoke radical thinking about how corporate governance might be improved by reexamining the demographics and fundamental assumptions about diversity, the attributes of board standing committees, and international board diversity profiles. Hopefully, constructive thinking about diversity, board composition, and a productive dialogue among all in the corporate governance community will result.
Keywords: Board Diversity, Corporate Governance, Directors, Director Selection, Discrimination, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, Gender, Gender Diversity, Glass Ceiling, Law, Minorities, Minority Directors, Organizational Behavior, People of Color, Race, Racial/Gender Diversity, Sex, Strategy, Women
JEL Classification: D63, D70, D71, G30, G34, J16, J44, J70, K22, K40, K49, L20, M10, M14, M40, M50
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation