Sector News

Just 35% of male directors think having a female board member is 'very important'

October 7, 2015
Diversity & Inclusion

Women are more likely to value board diversity.

A new PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey of public corporate directors found that men and women have vastly different opinions on the importance of board diversity. Men, it turns out, don’t seem to mind the lack of diversity nearly as much as women do.

According to Bloomberg, 63% of female respondents–compared with 35% of men–said that having women on corporate boards was very important. 46% of women said racial diversity was very important, while 27% of men agreed. And women were also more confident that there were qualified diverse candidates to serve on boards by a large margin. 46% of women said there were enough qualified diverse candidates, and only 18% of men agreed.

Newer members of boards were more likely to value diversity. 62% of respondents who had been on their boards for less than a year said that diversity was crucial, while only 39% of those who had been around for more than ten years agreed.

Fewer than 1% of corporate boards in the Fortune 500 have achieved or surpassed gender parity. But evidence is growing that diversity is good for corporate boardrooms: a Credit Suisse report found that large companies with at least one woman on their boards performed better than their all-male counterparts, and boards with three or more female directors enjoyed particular success, according to a report by Catalyst.

By Claire Groden

Source: Fortune

comments closed

Related News

April 20, 2024

68% of Gen Z workers would take an unwanted job for good pay: Report

Diversity & Inclusion

A desire from younger workers to earn high salaries early in their careers is a desire based on needs and not wants, data suggests. When asked about the main reasons for compensation increases, 31% said to pay for all their bills and expenses and 25% said to save money for the future.

April 14, 2024

How to manage your non-inclusive manager

Diversity & Inclusion

At a recent training I was facilitating, I invited people to ask me anything anonymously using polling technology. While the questions always give me great insight into where people are struggling with issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), this question seemed more universal: “What do I do if my manager is not inclusive?”

April 7, 2024

Men are seen as experts more often than their women counterparts — and it’s time to break those gender biases.

Diversity & Inclusion

Our society’s tendency to look to men for expertise is one of the things that holds women back in our careers. But we can all help give women’s knowledge and accomplishments greater visibility, which will cause people of all genders to view women as experts and turn to women for expertise more.

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach