May 2022 Report Summary

Companies continue to move towards parity and the commitment to diversifying board composition continues. In April women comprised 38.6% of new appointments to the boards of public companies. Public companies appointed 147 women to boards and 234 men to their boards. The trend of appointing on average 40% women to the board of companies will hopefully continue despite the striking down of California legislation mandating women and minority board seats.

While only 32 of the newly appointed women Board members (21.7% of new women appointments) chose to self-disclose their race, we continue to see diversification. In April, Asian/Pacific Islander women took the lead in board appointments again with 15 women being appointed to public boards, making up 45.5% of the newly appointed women. They are closely followed by 11 Black/African American women (33.3%), 4 Latin / Hispanic women (12.1%), 1 Middle Eastern / North African woman (3%), & 1 Multi-Racial (3%) woman. The Scholastic Corporation, Bill.com Holdings Inc., and Victoria’s Secret & Co., are some of the companies that appointed this phenomenal group of diverse women to their boards.

Of the 147 women appointed to the boards of public companies, 83 or 56.4% were first time board appointments, a substantially higher percentage compared to previous months. Thus, the trend to build the pipeline and number of women on boards continues to rise. In April, Financial Services led the way in the appointment of women followed by Healthcare companies and Technology companies; with appointed women filling 20.4% of board seats at financial companies and 19.7% appointed to healthcare companies. In the Tech sector, we see strides being made by women at companies like Paycom Software, Inc. and First Solar, Inc.

Equilar and WBC are tracking and analyzing the growth and rotation of board seats on public companies and the expanding candidate pool. We will continue to track not only the women in terms of numbers, diversity and profile; but the companies and industries in which female board members are present and how many of the overall board seats are held by women. Please, join us in celebrating, tracking, analyzing, and promoting women serving on corporate boards.