Boards are no longer made up entirely of white, male, retired CEOs, and females are no longer just tokens. As director seats slowly but surely become available, they are being filled by more diverse directors with expertise and knowledge well suited to the company. A greater pool of qualified women candidates exists today than ever before. Not so long ago, almost no women were considered qualified to be members of a corporate board. The 2000 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners reveals that women comprised 12.5 percent of the corporate officer ranks of Fortune 500 companies.
Women are nearly half the managerial workforce.
They hold 49 percent of managerial and professional specialty positions. Women are shareholders. Using their own resources, women make up over 40 percent of investors. Several other developments are putting increasing pressure on companies to deepen and diversify their pool of board candidates. Companies are increasingly emphasizing director independence.