A new USA Today story highlights what many have suspected: the push to diversify corporate boards is losing steam. According to ISS-Corporate, women accounted for just one-third of new S&P 500 board seats in 2025, down sharply from a high of 44% in 2022. People of color made up only 19% of new additions, compared to 44% in 2021—and for the first time since 2017, white men represented the majority of new director appointments.
Our data shows a similar plateau. Across the S&P 500, the share of board seats held by women and people of color edged down slightly in 2025—the first decline in nearly a decade. This pause comes after years of steady progress that brought overall board diversity close to the symbolic 50% mark. As of 2025, women hold 34.3% of S&P 500 board seats, and people of color hold 24.7%, compared with 34.4% and 24.7% at the end of 2024.
A recent PwC survey points to why: fewer boards are making demographic diversity a priority. Just 9% of directors say their boards plan to add gender diversity in the coming year—down from 21% in 2024—and only 6% plan to add racial or ethnic diversity, down from 13%.
And board diversity policies are being rolled back. The share of S&P 500 companies with a “Rooney Rule”–style commitment to include women and people of color in director searches has dropped from 48% last year to just 25% in 2025, as roughly half of companies removed explicit language about demographic inclusion.
Meanwhile, major gatekeepers—ISS, Glass Lewis, BlackRock, and State Street—have all stripped demographic diversity references from their voting guidelines, signaling that external pressure on companies to diversify their boards has weakened.
After a decade of historic gains, board diversity in corporate America appears to be hitting a ceiling—and without renewed focus from investors, boards, and policymakers, 2025 may mark the beginning of a reversal.
What we’re reading:
- Amazon Testing New Warehouse Robots and AI Tools for Workers (Wall Street Journal)
- Human Capital: More Material Than Ever in the Age of AI (ISS Insights)
- Fewer Americans See Diversity as a Business Priority (Gallup)
- State AGs Attacking ESG Are Flirting With Ethics Violations (Bloomberg Law)
- Companies Are Pitching MOGA (Make Offices Great Again), But AI-Wary Workers Are Barely Budging (Deadline)
- Happy managers make for happier teams, data shows (HR Dive)
- Target to Slash Corporate Workforce After Quarters of Stagnant Sales (Wall Street Journal)