CEOs Explain How They Gender-Balanced Their Boards

For the first time in eight years, the percent of women on U.S. corporate boards declined last year. Despite more evidence about the benefits of the increasing the number women on boards (such as better decision making), and mounting pressure from groups like State Street Global Advisers and Blackrock to do so, the data suggest it will take until the end of 2055 to have board parity in the U.S. if we continue at the current rate.

This is where CEOs can help. Board appointments are highly influenced by CEOs, and they can do a better job of advocating for getting more women on the board. Fortunately, some are leading the way.

We interviewed CEOs who successfully reached board parity to learn how they did it. We recruited our sample from the 36 companies in the S&P500 that have at least 40% women board directors. We interviewed 15 CEOs and one board member who served as the “nomination and governance chair” from these companies. The companies in the sample had an average of 49.8% women on their boards.

We asked these “Champions” three simple questions: what are the benefits of board gender parity, why don’t other CEOs take these steps, and how did you do it? We also surveyed 20 of their board members about their reactions to serving on a more gender diverse board. In addition to these leaders, I spoke with six CEOs, along with one “nomination and governance chair,” from companies in the S&P 500 with boards made of 20% female directors, to compare how their perspectives were different.

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About the Author: DrStefanieKJohnson

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Management at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a Ph.D. from Rice University and is particularly interested in the effects of unconscious biases in the evaluation of women and minorities, with the goal of finding ways to mitigate those biases. Dr. Johnson brings bias to light with an engaging and humorous approach to advanced scientific research, which has earned her numerous accolades and invitations to present her work at meetings around the world, including the White House for a 2016 summit on diversity in corporate America on National Equal Pay Day, and the 2016 Harvard Negotiation and Leadership Conference. She has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters in outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Applied Psychology and The Academy of Management Journal. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership-development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. In recognition of her unique research, Dr. Johnson has been awarded nearly three million dollars in external funding to study leadership and create leadership development programs aimed at increasing safety. Media outlets featuring her work include: The Economist, Newsweek, Time, and CNN. Stefanie lives in the Boulder Bubble in Colorado with her Biology Professor husband, two young kiddos, and two old kitties.