Push for corporate board diversity set to increase in the U.S. due to European pressure

As Germany prepares to mandate quotas for female participation on major corporate boards, the United States is feeling the pressure to improve board diversity, says Hillary A. Sale, JD, corporate governance expert and professor of law at Washington University School of Law.

Sale

After years of little growth, the percentage of women directors on U.S. Boards remains at 12 percent.

“There are a lot of studies out there showing that diverse groups perform better, and there’s no reason to think that isn’t also true in the boardroom. I’ve certainly heard directors say it. I’ve also heard CEOs say it.”

Sale is currently working with colleagues at the Olin Business School to research the best way to measure the impact of diversity on a corporate board.

Hillary Sale, JD, corporate governance expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses the growing pressure to improve diversity on corporate boards. Sale works with DirectWomen, a national program designed to develop and position an elite group of exceptional senior women lawyers for service as directors of major U.S. Corporations.

She also holds a leadership role with DirectWomen, a national program designed to develop and position an elite group of exceptional senior women lawyers for service as directors of major U.S. Corporations.