DEI backlash is slowing the progress women and Blacks have made on corporate boards

December 13, 2024 at 10:34 AM EST

Although corporate boardrooms have gotten more diverse in the last five years, the progress made by women and Blacks may be reversing course, according to an update of a study that has been tracking board diversity for 20 years.

The study from Egon Zehnder, a Chicago-based leadership development consultancy with offices across the U.S., shows the overall inroads that have been made over the last 20 years in diversifying boards. From 2012 to 2024, the percentage of board positions held by women globally rose steadily from 13.6 % to 29.3%. Globally the number of companies that have a woman on the board rose from 84.9% in 2018 to 96% in 2024.

In 2020, Black directors comprised about 5% of directorships of Russell 3000 companies and in 2022 that number rose to 8.1%.

But the 2024-2025 Global Board Diversity Tracker showed cracks in the progress. It found that the number of new female directors appointed globally in 2024 dropped considerably from 17.2 % of appointments in 2020 to 14.2% in 2024. Appointment of ethnic and racial minority directors as new directors at S&P 500 companies also fell, from 34.1% in 2022 to 24.2% in 2024.

The reported noted that external social forces have influenced the pace of change. For example, 2017’s #MeToo movement and 2020’s racial equity protests both prompted global surges in corporate DEI commitments that often led to representational increases in the following years.

But the pendulum of those social forces is now swinging the other way. Programs designed to increase diverse representation in business are under attack in social media and even in some courtrooms, particularly in the U.S. Companies across the U.S. have curtailed DEI initiatives. There are some indications that the shift to defending DEI rather than promoting it has created a chilling effect, according to the report.

“Some media outlets are quick to draw early conclusions — that “DEI is dead”— when the evidence reveals a different story. What we see is a more contested DEI terrain. And while this threatens to stall progress, it also presents another opportunity to reframe the focus and goals of diversity and inclusion to respond to this moment in time and sustain change,” the report said.

Conversations that Egon Zehnder consultants have had with C-suite and board leaders indicate that they are continuing to work toward more diverse representation and greater inclusion, even if they may be more moderated in their tone and pace, this year’s report noted.

“To me, it seems clear that the questions raised by DEI critics present potential opportunities for innovation, not deletion,” said Cynthia Soledad, global head of DEI at Egon Zehnder.

“In our experience, executives still consider diversity critical to their business performance and expect these efforts to become more important over the next few years. Many companies are taking this inflection point to refresh their approaches toward achieving greater inclusion of all forms of diversity,” she said.

The report noted that the new data on board diversification and inclusion still supports an overall finding of gradual, incremental progress that has slowed down somewhat but continues. However, representation is just the first step, it said.

“The increasingly important, looming goal is for boards to create more inclusive cultures in order to leverage the increase in diverse representation around the table. It is largely the Chair’s responsibility to take the lead in building more inclusive board culture and practice. They and other leaders recognize that more inclusive, adaptable organizations are critical for addressing big challenges such as widespread market disruption, climate change and AI,” the report concluded.

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DEI backlash is slowing the progress women and Blacks have made on corporate boards

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