Women & Minority Directors: A Topsy-Turvy Trend.

More women executives hold seats on the boards of U.S. service firms in 2005 than in the previous five years, but their numbers have declined over 2004 in manufacturing and financial services, according to The Conference Board’s latest study on directors’ compensation and board practices. The Conference Board is a global research and business membership organization.

Seventy-three percent of the manufacturing companies surveyed have women directors, compared to 77 percent last year, and 65 percent in 2003. Among financial service companies, 69 percent have women directors, compared with 76 percent in 2004 and 72 percent in 2003. In the service firms, 80 percent have women directors, up from 77 percent last year and 72 percent in 2003. Racial and ethnic minorities have mostly increased their representation during the last five years on the boards of service firms. But their number declined in 2005 over 2004 in manufacturing, and the pattern is erratic in financial services. (Racial/ethnic minority is defined by the individual survey participant.)

According to Charles Peck, one of the authors of the report, “Although some of the year-to-year fluctuation is due to the fact that the same companies do not respond every year, the trend in both the manufacturing and service sectors is increased representation on boards by women and minorities.” The data on financial services is difficult to interpret. Because there are fewer of these firms in the survey results [than in the other two industries], the effect of year to year shifts in the composition of the group may be magnified.

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Source: Directors’ Compensation and Board Practices in 2005
Report No. 1379, The Conference Board