As we close out 2021, the number of women appointed to the boards of public companies continues to rise. In November, US public companies appointed 149 women to boards and 195 men to their boards.
This means women comprised 43.3% of all new public board appointments! The march towards board parity continues
While only 47 of the newly appointed female Board members (31% of new women appointments) chose to self-disclose their race, we continue to see increased diversification within this set. In November, for the second time in the last seven months we see Asian/Pacific Islander women take the lead in board appointments with 23 women being appointed to public boards, making up 49% of the 47 women.
They are closely followed by 21 Black/African American women and 3 Hispanic women. Caesars Entertainment, Inc., Etsy, Inc., and 23andMe Holding Co. are some of the companies that appointed this phenomenal group of diverse women to their boards.
Of the 149 women appointed the boards of public companies, 90 (60.4%) were first timeboard appointments. In November, Healthcare companies led the way in the appointment of women followed by Technology companies and Financial Services; with women appointed filling 31.5% of board seats at healthcare companies. In the Financial Services sector, we see strides being made by women at companies like Capital One Financial Corporation and Midwest Holding Inc.
Since we started publishing this monthly report in October 2020, companies are appointing more women and averaging over 40% each month to the board of public companies. In addition, there is progress being made to appoint women of color and LGBTQ sub-segments and over a third of appointees are disclosing their race and ethnicity. As we move into 2022, the WBC will continue to track monthly the appointments to the boards of public companies, but also showcase where women sit on boards of private companies and insights into how the make up of boards of all companies is changing.
Equilar and WBC are tracking and analyzing the growth and rotation of board seats and the expanding candidate pool. We will continue to track not only the women in terms of numbers, diversity and profile; but the companies and industries in which women board members are present and how many of the overall board seats are held by women.
Please, join us in celebrating, tracking, analyzing, and promoting women serving on corporate boards.