20/20 Women on Boards released The 2014 Gender Diversity Index. Read the intro below and read the entire report here or participate in their 20/20 Poll: “What will it take for the U.S. to become a global leader in the advancement of women to company boards?”
How important is it that boards include both men and women?
What is the minimum percentage to be considered “gender diverse”?
What is needed to diversify boards in the U.S.?
We are pleased to share with you 2020 Women on Boards’ Gender Diversity Index of Fortune 1000 Companies for 2014.
For the fourth year in a row, we are seeing the impact of the campaign. The percentage of women on U.S. company boards continues to increase, to 17.7% in 2014 from 16.6% in 2013 for the Fortune 1000 Index. The increase is even more pronounced when compared to our first year of research in 2011 when women held just 14.6% of Fortune 1000 board seats.
The news is good on almost all fronts: the number of Winning W Companies has increased, the number of Zero Z Companies has declined. Every sector has seen growth in the numbers of women placed on their boards. We remain confident we are on track to reach – and expect to exceed—our goal of 20% or more company board seats held by women in the Fortune 1000 by 2020.
We started the 2020 Women on Boards campaign in 2010 as a grass roots initiative to engage corporate stakeholders to hold companies accountable in diversifying their boards of directors. We educate people about what boards do and why diversified boards are so important. We encourage dialogue on the topic and we measure and report on the progress being made.
We don’t do this work alone. We recognize the work of the 30% Club, Catalyst, Inter Organization Network (ION), the Thirty Percent Coalition, WomenCorporateDirectors, and YPO/WPO Women’s International Network in advancing women to the boardroom. We also recognize our 57 Affiliate organizations who work with us to support our mission; and we thank our sponsors and supporters for helping us reach our goal.
Check the 2020 Women on Boards website for initiatives where you live and work. We hope you’ll take the monthly 2020 Challenge and add your voice to the thousands who regularly congratulate the Winning W Companies and encourage the Zero Z Companies to add women. To participate, register your support for the campaign at www.2020wob.com. For our thousands of supporters across the U.S. and around the world, we thank you for your ongoing endorsement. We are motivated by your encouragement and by the results to date.