The Danger of Difference: Tensions in Directors’ Views of Corporate Board Diversity

40 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2013 Last revised: 26 Dec 2014

See all articles by Kimberly D. Krawiec

Kimberly D. Krawiec

University of Virginia School of Law

John M. Conley

University of North Carolina School of Law

Lissa L. Broome

University of North Carolina School of Law

Date Written: April 23, 2013

Abstract

This Article describes the results from fifty-seven interviews with corporate directors and a limited number of other persons (including institutional investors, search firm personnel, and the like) regarding their views on corporate board diversity. It highlights numerous tensions in these views. Most directors, for instance, proclaim that diverse boards are good, but very few directors can articulate their reasons for this belief. Some directors have suggested that diverse boards work better than non-diverse boards, but gave relatively few concrete examples of specific instances where a female or minority board member made a special contribution related to that director’s race or gender. Many directors noted the importance of collegiality and getting along in the boardroom, while simultaneously extolling the advantages of different perspectives in avoiding group think. Although all acknowledged the importance of fitting in, few considered whether this impeded the role of “outsiders” providing a diverse perspective. This Article also explores directors’ thoughts on why progress in improving board diversity has been so slow if most agree that diversity is an important goal.

Keywords: boards of directors, corporate boards, diversity, race, gender, ethnography, qualitative research

JEL Classification: K22, K00, K10

Suggested Citation

Krawiec, Kimberly D. and Conley, John M. and Broome, Lissa L., The Danger of Difference: Tensions in Directors’ Views of Corporate Board Diversity (April 23, 2013). University of Illinois Law Review, Vol. 2013, No. 3, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2272871

Kimberly D. Krawiec (Contact Author)

University of Virginia School of Law ( email )

580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
United States

John M. Conley

University of North Carolina School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road
CB #3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
United States
919-962-8502 (Phone)

Lissa L. Broome

University of North Carolina School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road
CB #3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
United States
919-962-7066 (Phone)
919-962-1277 (Fax)

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