CEO diversity slow to change even as U.S. boards hire more women and minorities
17/11/2022 14:00
By Rachael Levy and Ross Kerber
WASHINGTON/BOSTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The share of women
and minority leaders taking on CEO roles has stagnated since
last year at top U.S. companies despite corporate pledges to
improve diversity, according to fresh research from recruiting
firm Heidrick & Struggles, which attributed the trend to slow
leadership turnover.
However, faster-moving boardrooms have added more diversity,
it has found.
At Fortune 100 companies, only 12 chief executives were
women as of July 15, the same number as a year earlier,
according to Heidrick. HSII.O
Female CEOs of top companies include Centene Corp's CNC.N
Sarah London, who took the helm this year, Karen Lynch at CVS
Health CVS.N , and Mary Barra of General Motors GM.N .
The Heidrick & Struggles also report showed 86 CEOs in the
group were white, down slightly from 88 in the prior period.
That compares to a non-Hispanic white population of around 59%
in the United States, according to census figures.
Corporate boards, however, can have a dozen members who may
serve just a few years, giving directors more opportunities to
bring in new hires, said Lyndon Taylor, a partner at Heidrick
who oversaw the research and advises companies on boardroom and
CEO hires across industries.
A corporate board can be diversified quickly because of that
high rate of turnover, he said. "If you want to accelerate the
rate of the change in the C-suite, then it (diversity) has to be
embedded in the succession plan," Taylor said.
In a separate survey, Heidrick found record levels of board
seats filled by first-time directors at 43%.
Nearly half of the appointees last year were women, while
41% were racially or ethnically diverse, similar to rates in
2020.
That survey considered Fortune 500 companies, a larger pool
of firms than that looked at by the CEO study, and was in line
with other researchers' findings.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and by Rachael Levy in
Washington, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 856 4341
rachael.levy@tr.com; Signal/cell: 202-967-6233))