Women hold the majority of non-executive board positions for the first time

Data shows that women currently occupy the majority of non-executive board posts for the first time ever, although men continue to dominate the majority of executive director positions.

Women currently account for 51% of all non-executive directors, up from 18% a decade ago, according to the 2021 UK Spencer Stuart Board Index — a study of governance practice in the FTSE 150 on 30 April 2021, excluding investment trusts.

For the first time since the study began, the number of non-executive posts held by women (442), outnumbering those held by men (422), and women now account for more than a third (36%) of all board positions, up from 34% in 2020.

However, the majority of executive directors (86%) were men, with men holding all four senior board seats in 64 of the top 150 businesses, according to the study. Over the last year, there has been no rise in the number of women in executive director roles.

There has also been success in other areas of diversity among FTSE boards, with the number of appointments of directors from minority ethnic backgrounds increasing by more than 40% in the last year, according to the research.

In 2017, the Parker Review recommended that FTSE 100 companies commit to “One by 21” and have at least one minority ethnic director on their boards by December 2021.

According to the Spencer Stuart analysis, three out of every five FTSE 150 companies (61%) had at least one minority ethnic director on their board, but 39 percent – the equivalent of 59 companies – did not.

In the previous year, the share of first-time board directors from minority ethnic origins increased from 17% to 25%.

Despite the Parker Review’s aim, 18 FTSE 100 corporations had not attained this level as of 30 April (the index’s cut-off date), while 19 companies either did not report their condition or alluded to the Parker Review, according to the latest numbers.

However, after the April deadline, there have been more appointments of board members from minority ethnic origins, according to the report.

The study also discovered that most directors with ethnic minority backgrounds do not hold leadership roles on the board, with only one board chair identifying as minority ethnic among the survey respondents.

Sandra Kerr CBE, race equality director at Business in the Community, told People Management that the findings show that progress is being made, although slowly.

“We need more leaders to step up and encourage employees of ethnic minority backgrounds because mentorship and sponsorship possibilities have diminished since 2018,” she explained.

Employers must also guarantee that people are given credit for their work and recognize that many female workers of black, Asian, and mixed-race origin may require mentors and sponsors to help them access possibilities, according to Kerr.

“Businesses should also examine larger ways to fostering workplace inclusion,” according to Paul Holcroft, managing director of Croner, “including gender and ethnicity pay gap reporting to analyze the proportion of employees from underrepresented groups.”

He also stated that businesses must take steps to create a fair and inclusive workplace, such as gender and ethnicity pay gap reporting to assess the proportion of employees from underrepresented groups.

Dr. Scarlett Brown, the CIPD’s corporate governance head, agreed that more businesses should collect data on their workforce’s diversity, including disability, gender, sexual orientation, social back