Tool: First Step—Gender Diversity At The Top Pays Off From The Boardroom To The C-Suite

More Women Board Directors Means More Women Executives

More and more companies now recognize the benefits of well-managed diversity and how important it is to have women at decision-making tables. Having more women on the board may help companies solve the problem of insufficient numbers of women in their executive ranks.

The Presence of Women on Boards Creates Robust Talent Pipelines

• Women board directors provide vital role models for other women, helping dismantle a documented barrier to women’s advancement.
• Higher percentages of women on a board are associated with both greater percentages of women executive officers in subsequent years, as well as greater percentages of women in key profit-and-loss positions that are often required for advancement.
• Over time, a 10% increase in female board membership is associated with a 21% increase in female executive presence in companies.

The bottom line is that women’s membership on boards is important to getting more women into companies’ top positions.