The 2010 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors examines women’s representation in corporate governance at the largest companies in the United States. This annual report provides critical statistics to gauge women’s advancement into leadership and highlights the gender diversity gap.
Each year Catalyst tracks:
- Women’s share of all board seats and of positions of board leadership
- The representation of women of color directors
- The percentage of companies with zero to three or more women and women of color directors
The appendices provide additional points of comparison by Fortune rank, region, and industry and list companies with the highest and lowest representation of women board directors.
In 2010, women held 15.7 percent of board seats at Fortune 500 companies. In both 2009 and 2010, more than 50 percent of companies had at least two women board directors, yet more than 10 percent had no women serving on their boards. Similar to 2009, women of color held 3.0 percent of all board seats and represented about one-fifth of all women directors.
Sponsor: Ernst & Young