“Navigating the Challenges to Achieve Boardroom Diversity” - Maryann Bruce

Insights from Leaders
2 min readOct 10, 2024

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Maryann Bruce — Corporate Board Director

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are more than just buzzwords; they represent essential goals that modern corporations strive to achieve. However, transitioning from conversation to action in promoting boardroom diversity remains sluggish, particularly at the C-suite and board levels. This often requires board directors to venture beyond traditional recruitment practices and actively seek directors from historically underrepresented groups, such as women and minorities.

The delay in achieving boardroom diversity can be attributed to several key challenges. Firstly, entrenched biases within boards, a narrow definition of desired director skillsets, and a lack of commitment to nurturing future generations of corporate directors all play significant roles. Overcoming these biases and expanding recruitment beyond personal networks is crucial. This involves adopting new recruitment strategies, such as partnering with search firms dedicated to finding diverse talent and holding these firms accountable for delivering diverse candidate slates — a practice that may challenge the status quo but is essential for change.

Traditionally, corporate directors have often been selected from a pool of sitting or former CEOs, a group that has predominantly consisted of white males, thus limiting the diversity of potential board candidates. To address this, boards are encouraged to broaden their perspective by valuing diverse experiences and backgrounds over titles. Employing a board skills matrix can help pinpoint the actual skills needed for the board, based on the company’s strategic goals, thereby widening the candidate pool.

Another barrier is that some companies restrict their executives from serving on external boards due to potential conflicts of interest or concerns about distraction from their primary roles. However, the advantages of board service, which include exposure to new strategies, succession planning, and innovation, can significantly enhance an executive’s leadership capabilities and provide substantial growth opportunities.

Despite these challenges, the corporate world clearly acknowledges the benefits associated with diverse boards, which include enhanced performance and better decision-making. The demand for diversity is growing, driven by business leaders, investors, activists, proxy advisors, asset managers, stock exchanges, and regulators, all advocating for more inclusive board compositions.

The commitment to change is evident as many corporate boards have expanded their size to facilitate more significant gender and ethnic diversity. They are also improving their onboarding processes to ensure that new, diverse members are effectively integrated and have meaningful roles within the board’s activities.

About Maryann: Maryann Bruce is an experienced corporate director committed to fostering diverse and inclusive boards. She believes that diversity and inclusivity mitigate risks and counteract groupthink, drive profitability, and serve as a role model within the organization.”

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