Gender Diversity in the Boardroom

It is well known that there is a severe shortage of women in positions of leadership in Corporate America. Recently, though, companies all around the United States are adding more women to their boards of directors; but what is prompting the change? David Matsa, a professor at the Kellog School of Management, suspected that this trend was not just coincidence, or even mass enlightenment. He suspected it was a result of pressures from outside influences. According to recent research, he was right.

These changes seem to be the result of pressures from venture capital and institutional investors. In particular, the “Big Three”: Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street. Started in 2017 by State Street’s “Fearless Girl” campaign, and continued by Vanguard and BlackRock in 2018, these companies (and the capital they influenced) were driving boardroom gender diversity. As Matsa says: “When your largest shareholders create a ruckus, you listen.”

Read the full article here, and discover how Matsa’s research highlights what works, and what is outdated about the modern day boardroom.

Diversity on Your Board

As the founder of one of the country’s oldest minority-led investment firms, John W. Rogers Jr. has spent his career pushing for greater diversity across a variety of different industries. Yet despite his work (and that of many others) and despite diversity and inclusion being at the forefront of recent corporate conversation, the wealth gap between racial groups is growing, not shrinking.

“People have just no idea how much worse off we are. We’re losing out on the key economic opportunities and the parts of the economy where the wealth is being created today, primarily Wall Street and Silicon Valley,” Rogers said. “We are still continuing to try to work in yesterday’s industries. And in tomorrow’s industries, where the real opportunity is, we continue to be locked out. It almost reminds me of baseball in 1940.”

Recently Stephanie Creary of the Wharton School, interviewed Rogers on her podcast (older episodes here), as well as co-authored an article for Strategy & Business with him. In both, the two discuss ideas and practical frameworks for boards to actively advance racial justice and increase diversity within their organizations. For those who have made a commitment to fighting systemic racism, the message is clear: put your money where your mouth is. This should be required reading for any C-suite or board members who would like to authenically increase diversity among their colleagues.