by Tiffany Trzebiatowski, Courtney L. McCluney and Morela Hernandez
For Harvard Business Review
Photo: HBR Staff/JW LTD/Getty Images
Summary.
Gender parity on boards is showing signs of improvement. But having a seat at the table is just the first step; exerting influence around high-stakes decisions is vital, too. To better understand how women board members do this, researchers interviewed 43 women directors at U.S. companies. They found that these women had to navigate a fine line of appearing both warm and competent to get their opinions across, and did so using six key tactics: asking, connecting, asserting, qualifying, waiting, and checking. The researchers also note that it should not simply be up to women directors to navigate bias against them, and suggest four strategies for companies looking to improve gender parity on their boards — not only in number, but in influence
The road to gender parity on corporate boards has been a long one, but there are signs of progress. In 2022, for instance, 45% of new Fortune 500 board appointees were women and the percentage of women on these boards had risen to almost 30%.
Yet, the point of being a director is not simply to be in the room. To successfully advise top management teams on key decisions and avenues for strategic change, while ensuring broad institutional oversight, women board directors must exert significant influence during board discussions. Given that gender-based barriers persist, how do women directors navigate these board discussions to ultimately shape their outcomes?
