How many women do boards need?

Harvard Business Review
Alison Konrad and Vicki Kramer
December 2006

Approximately 15% of Fortune 500 board members are women. However, a new study finds that in regards to corporate governance, the number of women on each board is equally or more significant than merely the presence of women on a board. After interviewing CEOs, women directors, and corporate secretaries at Fortune 1000 companies, Sumru Erkut of the Wellesley Centers for Women, Alison Konrad of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and Vicki Kramer of V. Kramer & Associates determined that having three or more women as board members significantly changes the dynamic of the boardroom. According to the report, "Solo women on boards often feel isolated or marginalized...but two women....may find that they have to be careful not to appear to be conspiring." However, three women board members feel less competition to be heard, broaden discussions, tend to pursue answers to tough questions, and add a more collaborative effort to decision making. Their presence also affects the male board members, who tend to become less aggressive and combative.

Tags: News, News: How Many Women Do Boards Need, News: How Many Women Do Boards Need?, People: Sumru Erkut, Projects: Critical Mass Project,

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