White Men Make a Comeback in America’s Boardrooms

Corporate boards in the US have never been more diverse. Those same boards are now hiring White guys at the fastest clip in almost a decade.

White men made up a majority of new directors added this year at S&P 500 companies for the first time since 2017, according to data from the research firm ISS-Corporate. Interviews with directors and recruiters make clear that boards are seeking candidates with experience as chief executive officers to help navigate economic and political turmoil, particularly tariffs. And because many of those executives began their careers decades ago, when leadership was less diverse, those being picked now are disproportionately White and male.

At the same time, recruiters say, efforts to broaden representation has slipped down boards’ priority lists amid the Trump administration’s backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion practices. That’s providing the cover to make such hires without the kind of negative reaction boards might have expected when DEI efforts took off after George Floyd’s killing by police in 2020.

“What was grossly underappreciated five years ago — a candidate that was male, stale and pale — is now very much at the table to be considered against any and all other candidates,” said Robert Travis, who works on director searches as a managing partner at executive recruiter Boyden.

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Some 55% of the more than 440 new directors appointed to S&P 500 boards through Sept. 24 of this year were White men, ISS-Corporate found. Women won about a third of board seats, down from a peak of 44% of new seats in 2022. Non-White directors made up 20% of board hires, down from 44% in 2021.

An Equilar Inc. study on members of the Russell 3000 Index, which includes smaller companies that aren’t part of the S&P 500, found the return to hiring White men for board positions gained steam earlier, in 2023.

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With corporate boards now composed of more than one-third women and 12% Black directors, board representation is getting closer to society at large, reducing the perception that directors need to prioritize diversity, according to Jun Frank, the global head of compensation and governance advisory at ISS-Corporate.

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