Board Composition: Diversity, Experience, and Effectiveness

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Corporate Board Practices

Board Composition: Diversity, Experience, and Effectiveness

19 May 2022 / Report

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This report provides insights relating to board composition (including gender, race, and sexual orientation diversity, director qualifications and skills), size, and education at S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies. Our findings are based on data derived from our live, interactive online dashboard powered by ESGAUGE,^[1] as well as a Chatham House Rule discussion with leading governance professionals held in April 2022.

Insights for What’s Ahead

Although boards may want to add functional experience in ESG areas, such as technology, cybersecurity, human capital, and climate, directors can bring meaningful value only if they can make the connection between these functional areas and business strategy. The recent decline in the reported percentage of board members with business strategy experience is worrisome, as board members without broad strategic experience can hinder effective board discussions and will likely be less useful partners for management. Boards should not sacrifice business strategy experience to achieve functional expertise.
While boards are becoming more gender diverse, many companies will need to further increase their efforts to meet investors’ future demands, which include having a board that is at least 30 percent gender diverse instead of merely having one or two female directors. This me

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