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This Equilar blog shares the result of the latest Gender Diversity Index. Progress on that aspect of representation has accelerated over the past several years. Check out these stats, collected as of March 31st:

– 24.3% of all board seats in the Russell 3000 were occupied by women – The percentage of women in board seats rose 3.4% from Q4 2020 and 10.5% from one year ago.

– For the first time, the percentage of boards with zero women has dropped below 5%.

– Seventy boards had gender parity in Q1 2021, which was one fewer than the previous quarter but 10 more than in Q1 2020.

– There were 256 Russell 3000 boards with at least 40% women in Q1 2021, or 8.8% of the index, in comparison to just 6.5% of boards (189) with at least 40% women a year earlier in Q1 2020. This is nearly four times the number of boards with at least 40% women compared to four years ago.

– In California, which has the highest number of boards of any state by a long stretch (489), just one lacked a woman (0.2%). Overall, the state of California has seen a gradual uptick in the percentage of women directors since its board gender diversity statute went into effect (17% in 2018 to 28% in 2021).

The blog points out that women held only 15% of board seats at the end of 2016, when Equilar’s Gender Diversity Index was first published. At that time, even 20% representation seemed like a stretch, in light of minuscule gains in prior years. State laws, investor pressure and shifts in public opinion have led to big advancements since then.

However, these nudges aren’t standalone solutions. Parity is still a distant possibility in light of the fact that only 41% of new board seats are going to women, especially because board turnover is infrequent.

– Liz Dunshee