The board of Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies appointed 395 new independent directors in 2022. Of that number, 74 percent came from outside the ranks of CEO, chair/vice chair, COO and president, according to the 37th annual study by executive search and leadership advisory firm Spencer Stuart.
The 2022 U.S. Spencer Stuart Board Index found that companies are heeding shareholder calls for increased boardroom diversity. Fifty-six percent of new independent directors are actively employed, 34 percent are serving on their first public company board, and 18 percent are next-gen, age 50 or younger. Additionally, 50 percent of new directors have international work experience, jumping 34 percent from 2021, according to a Nov. 2 news release.
"Boards have made real breakthroughs on director appointments from underrepresented groups in recent years and continue to expand the diversity of skills, age, gender, race, ethnicity and geography that is added to the boardroom. We expect this trend to continue, as we're seeing a growing push for diversity among stakeholders, who view each director search as an opportunity to foster a culture that welcomes and respects a range of perspectives," said Julie Hembrock Daum, leader of Spencer Stuart's North American Board Practice.
The 2022 Board Index reflects data up to April 30, 2022, which is the most up-to-date market analysis, according to the report.
Other top findings include that 72 percent of independent directors are from historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups or members. Additionally, women represent 32 percent of all S&P 500 directors, an increase from 17 percent a decade ago. Ninety-eight percent of boards conduct an annual performance evaluation, and 47 percent of boards have individual director evaluations.
The S&P 500 is a market-capitalization-weighted index of the 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S.