Board and C-Suite Diversity

Question

With everything going on right now I'm seeing a lot of stuff on TV about how we need more diversity on boards and at the C-Suite level.

I'm not denying that some people may have been overlooked, but I have to believe that's a small fraction. Aren't businesses trying to select the best people to try and put themselves in the best position to be successful? It's hard to run a business, why select less qualified people to be in leadership positions or board positions purely because they're white?

Am I thinking about that correctly or is there something I'm not seeing?

BobTheBaker · Accepted Answer

Asians are some of the best educated ppl in America. They consistently outpace their peers as far as test scores and academic achievement go. They are underrepresented on boards and in the C-suite. But yea bro, keep telling me about how this whole corporate game is all a meritocracy, never mind that we consistently acknowledge it's not on this board (networking, office politics, etc.).

So, to answer your question.... yes, less qualified white ppl fill leadership positions and board seats across all of corporate America, because it's a relationship game.

thebrofessor · Answer

I used to think the way you do before I started working with corporate executives and witnessing how this works. some companies are absolutely better than others, but let me give you an idea of how things go most of the time (in my experience, I don't intimately know every board)

person A gets some position of importance - CEO, CFO, COO, even a division head. they're the only replacement at that time. they send an email out indicating their excitement on what's coming in the future.

person A immediately notices that their immediate coworkers/direct reports are not people they hired.

Pescepescetarian · Answer

Wow, this is the first time I've seen you write coherently without being misinterpreted.

Snarky comments aside, generally speaking, the US is much better at meritocracy than many other nations. Of course, it's different per case. In highly functioning firms, there is virtually no office politics based on "I went to the same school as these guys", "I grew up in the same part of the country as these guys", "you're too young to get promoted", "you haven't worked here long enough to get a raise", etc...

BobTheBaker · Answer

"FutureBankTeller"
Because soft skills matter...

So this is your theory: Soft skills among Asians are so poor that despite them handily outperforming as a population as far as academics they deserve to comprise only ~2% of Fortune 500 CEOs versus being ~5% of the population.

I find that very hard to believe.

They are overrepresented at the lower levels so you believe that so many of them have such poor social skills that by the time you get to the top of the pyramid them being underrepresented is justified...

Ok.

p.s.

+46	I don't know how homeless people survive	8	5d
+24	Master in Finance - Exchange program options	6	16h
+16	Where to Buy Rope?	4	1d
+13	AI and white collar work	6	2h
+11	Visiting NYC	12	4h
+8	Where to stay in Vienna for a special occasion, can you help with any recommendations?	1	15h
+4	Addict Monkeys?	5	13h
+3	WSO King Kong deal toys for 1,000+ bananas?	5	11h
0	How does the stress/hours of a startup compare with IB?	2	6d

1	redever	99.2
2	Secyh62	99.0
3	kanon	99.0
4	BankonBanking	99.0
5	CompBanker	98.9
6	Betsy Massar	98.9
7	dosk17	98.9
8	DrApeman	98.9
9	GameTheory	98.9
10	bolo up	98.8

Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

Board and C-Suite Diversity

Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

Elite Career Bootcamp. Top Job Offer Guaranteed.

Board and C-Suite Diversity

See All Comments - 100% Free

Trending Content - Off Topic Forum