Women are underrepresented on S&P 500 boards. The average Board Gender Diversity Percentage for the S&P 500 is 24.0%, which is up from 15.3% eight fiscal years ago. The lower chart shows that at this trajectory, parity is projected to be reached in 2030. Within the S&P 500, the retailing (29.0%) and consumer services (27.7%) industry groups have the highest average representation, while the commercial & professional services (18.9%) and semiconductors & semiconductor equipment (18.9%) industry groups have the lowest.

Board Gender Diversity Percentage (BGDP) is one of the over 400 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) component metrics that Refinitiv incorporates in its ESG scoring. BGDP looks at the constituents’ fiscal year filings to determine the percentage of gender diversity represented on the board.