In a new ranking of public companies without women in top leadership from Bloomberg Businessweek.com, it was revealed that 5.8% of the companies in the S&P 500, “remain all male in decision-making roles, with no women on the board of directors or among the company’s top five highest-paid officers.”
Perhaps the most surprising company on this list is Discovery Communications, the company that produces Animal Planet and the Oprah Winfrey Network. Less surprising is the fact that one-third of the companies on this list are in the oil and gas sector. The same industry has the lowest percentage of women directors (9.6%)
The report also states that in 2010 the number of women on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies dropped by 0.6% to 16 percent. Only 3 Fortune 500 companies have women who hold more than 40% percent of the board seats (Avon Products, Estée Lauder, and Macy’s). Overall, women hold only 2.6% of board chairmanships.
PUBLIC COMPANIES WITHOUT WOMEN IN TOP LEADERSHIP
1. AvalonBay Communities, Arlington, VA
2. Cameron InternationalHouston, TX
3. CF Industries Holding, Deerfield, IL
4. Cintas, Cincinnati, OH
5. Denbury Resources, Plano, TX
6. Diamond Offshore Drilling, Houston, TX
7. Discovery Communications, Silver Spring, MD
8. EOG Resources, Houston, TX
9. Federated Investors, Pittsburgh, PA
10. Fidelity National Information Services, Jacksonville, FL
11. Flir Systems, Wilsonville, OR
12. Joy Global, Milwaukee, WI
13. L-3 Communications Holdings, New York, NY
14. Leucadia National, New York, NY
15. Linear Technology, Milpitas, CA
16. MEMC Electronic Materials, St. Peters, MO
17. MetroPCS Communications, Richardson, TX
18. National Oilwell Varco, Houston, TX
19. National Semiconductor, Santa Clara, CA
20. NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA
21. Pioneer Natural Resources, Dallas, TX
22. QEP Resources, Denver, CO
23. Range Resources, Fort Worth, TX
24. Republic Services, Phoenix, AZ
25. Roper Industries, Sarasota, FL
26. Southwestern Energy, Houston, TX
27. Stericycle, Lake Forest, IL
28. Titanium Metals, Dallas, TX
29. Teradyne, North Reading, MA
Makes you wonder just how diverse (or not diverse) these boards really are – not just in terms of women. What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
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Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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The stockholders in a corporation want the best possible people to serve on their Board of Directors – no matter the gender or race or any other factors. If people want to be treated equally there should be no forced acceptance based on gender or race. Abilities count. That is what will ultimately make a business successful.