2010 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500
Women Board Directors1
2010 Directors
15.7%
yy In 2009, women held 15.2 percent of board
seats.2
84.3%
Board Seats Held by:
Women (N=864/5520)
Men (N=4656/5520)
Women’s Share of Board Leadership
2010
2009
Board Chair
2.0%
2.6%
7.3%
8.8%
Lead Director
yy Women’s share of nominating/governance
committee chairs continues to be the only
board leadership position in which women
are keeping pace with their share of overall
board seats.
11.7%
12.1%
Audit Committee Chair
11.8%
Compensation
Committee Chair
11.5%
16.8%
16.9%
Nominating/Governance
Committee Chair
Percent of Companies by Number
of Board Seats Held by Women
2009
31.9% 29.6%
2010
36.5% 37.6%
19.4% 20.7%
12.3% 12.1%
Zero
Women
One
Woman
Two
Women
yy In both 2009 and 2010, more than 50
percent of companies had at least two
women board directors, yet more than 10
percent had no women serving on their
boards.
Three or More
Women
1. 2010 analysis is based on 497 companies. See Appendix 1—Methodology for more information. Results are accurate within one-tenth of a percent.
Percents may not add to 100 because of rounding.
2. Changes from 2009 to 2010 are not statistically significant for all data in this report.
© Catalyst 2010
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2010 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors
2010 Directors by Race/Ethnicity
3.0%
12.7%
84.3%
yy In 2009, women of color held 3.1 percent
of all board seats, and white women held
12.1 percent.3
Board Seats Held by:
Women of Color (N=163/5463)
White Women (N=693/5463)
Men (N=4607/5463)
2010 Women Directors by Race/Ethnicity
64.4%
Black
Latina
Asian
19.0%
24.5%
11.0%
yy In 2009, women of color also comprised
about one-fifth of all women directors.
yy In 2009, women of color directors
comprised about two-thirds Black women,
about one-quarter Latinas, and about onetenth Asian women.
Board Seats Held by:
Women of Color (N=163/856)
81.0%
White Women (N=693/856)
Percent of Companies by Number of Board Seats
Held by Women of Color Directors
69.0% 70.1%
2010
2009
yy In both 2009 and 2010, almost one-third
of companies had at least one woman of
color director, but none had three or more
women of color directors serving together.
27.3% 26.7%
3.8% 3.3%
Zero Women
of Color
One Woman
of Color
Two Women
of Color
3. Catalyst attempts to collect race/ethnicity data for women at every Fortune 500 company. Analysis is based on data from companies that have
complete race/ethnicity data for each woman director and companies without any women. The 2010 race/ethnicity analysis is based on 491
companies, compared to 477 in 2009. See Appendix 1—Methodology for more information.
This study was authored by Rachel Soares, Senior Associate, Research; Jan Combopiano, Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer;
Allyson Regis, Intern; Yelena Shur, Intern; and Rosita Wong, Intern.
Research Partners: American Express Company, BMO Financial Group, Deloitte LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Google, IBM Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, and UPS
Mentor Circle Sponsor:
© Catalyst 2010
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