Women on U.S. boards: what we are seeing.

• Position: BOARD COMPOSITION - Statistical data

This report looks at diversity in U.S. boardrooms at the time of their 2014 annual meetings and, unless otherwise noted, reflects S&P 1500 companies. It is based on the EY Centerfor Board Matters' proprietary corporate governance database. It is also part of the Center's ongoing board diversity series.

Observation 1: Increasing board size to add female directors is common

Women as a percentage of new board members across all companies has increased. And just about 15% of S&P 1500 companies have increased the number of female-held directorships since 2013 (based on a subset of companies that held annual meetings in both years).

However, 51% of the companies that increased directorships held by women last year did so by increasing board size. This raises questions around whether boards are holistically refreshing or simply adding more directors to the board.

It also explains why the larger the board size, the more likely it is for the board to include female directors.

Only 54% of S&P 1500 companies with a board size of seven directors have at least one female director versus 98% for those with 12 directors.

Observation 2: Female directors bring different experience to the board

A review of male and female directors reveals that female directors tend to be younger, less tenured, and more likely to serve on multiple company boards than their male counterparts. They are also less likely to be current CEOs (see exhibit).

Observation 3: Gender diversity is rising, but slowly

Despite efforts to advance board diversity by institutional investors and other groups, progress toward gender parity on U.S. boards is minimal. Indeed, the proportion of women on boards has increased only 5 percentage points over the last 10 years. Only 16% of S&P 1500 board seats are held by women--less than the proportion of seats held by directors named John, Robert, James and William. Fifteen percent of S&P MidCap 400 and 12% of S&P...