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NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–While progress has been made in driving gender diversity on corporate boards, there are still massive gaps in how diversity is defined and represented on boards around the world, according to Diligent, the global leader in modern governance providing SaaS solutions across governance, risk, compliance, audit and ESG. In fact, new research – revealed at the Modern Governance Summit today, September 12, 2022 – shows that boardroom diversity by race, ethnicity, age and LGBTQ+ representation lags significantly behind gender diversity globally.
“Diversity has risen up the boardroom agenda as organizations face increasing pressure to better reflect the diversity of their customer bases and communities, but progress has been slow and there are still many gaps when it comes to reporting on race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ representation on boards”
The inaugural Board Diversity Gaps: The Global Modern Leadership Report is the first ever global analysis of several major dimensions of boardroom diversity including gender, race/ethnicity and nationality, skillset and LGBTQ+ representation. Produced by Diligent, in collaboration with 22 partnering organizations around the world, the report provides a first-of-its-kind holistic view into the progression of diversity and inclusion on public and private boards worldwide.
“Diversity has risen up the boardroom agenda as organizations face increasing pressure to better reflect the diversity of their customer bases and communities, but progress has been slow and there are still many gaps when it comes to reporting on race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ representation on boards,” said Lisa Edwards, President and COO of Diligent and board director at Colgate-Palmolive. “This report provides new, critical insights into how boardrooms worldwide are progressing against diversity goals and where there is still much work to be done.”
Among the top findings of the Modern Leadership Report:
“The global picture of boardroom diversity today is varied and full of gaps, but what’s overwhelmingly clear is that gender diversity is the primary focus for boards around the world. Board diversity regarding race, ethnicity, age and LGBTQ+ representation fall woefully behind,” said Dottie Schindlinger, Executive Director of the Diligent Institute. “By better understanding the state of boardroom diversity across the globe, we’re able to increase the odds that corporate leadership opportunities will be made available to underrepresented groups.”
Like many organizations in recent years, Diligent has made concerted efforts to better understand and advocate for boardroom diversity. In 2020 Diligent launched Modern Leadership, an initiative to provide boards and senior leaders with the research, insights, partnerships and technology they need to further catalyze diversity in their organizations. This includes the Diligent Director Network — the largest and most diverse community of board-ready executives globally.
Read the full report here: https://www.diligent.com/board-diversity-gaps/
About the Report
The Modern Leadership Report is authored by Diligent Institute, the research arm and think tank of Diligent. Using a combination of quantitative data from company filings, surveys of corporate board members, practitioner insights and director interview, the report aims to provide a more holistic story about the progression of diversity and inclusion on public and private companies worldwide across the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
The report includes contributions from twenty-two external partner organizations including the Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD), Ascend, Better Boards Initiative, BoardReady, The Center of Excellence for Sustainable Environment and Social Inclusion (COE-SESI), Corporate Board Member, California Partners Project, the Director Diversity Initiative at University of North Carolina, the ESADE Centre for Corporate Governance, European Women on Boards, Hawkamah, Human Resource Governance Leaders (HRGL), INCAE, the Institute of Directors in India, Institut Luxembourgeois des Administrateurs (ILA), the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA), Out Leadership and the OutQUORUM Initiative for LGBTQ+ Board Diversity, Spencer Stuart, the University of Lagos, WTW and Women Business Collaborative. Diligent ESG business unit also partnered on the report providing data and commentary to the report.
About Diligent
Diligent is the global leader in modern governance, providing SaaS solutions across governance, risk, compliance, audit and ESG. Serving more than 1 million users from over 25,000 customers around the world, we empower transformational leaders with software, insights and confidence to drive greater impact and lead with purpose. Learn more at diligent.com.
