Majority of FTSE 100 meets ethnic diversity target
Progress is being made towards improving the ethnic diversity of FTSE 100 boards, finds Parker Review
Nearly all the FTSE 100 companies have met the government-backed Parker Review target to improve the representation of ethnic minority directors on their boards, but progress in executive roles remains slow.
Sir John Parker was commissioned by the government in 2015 to encourage greater diversity in boardrooms. In 2017, his committee set a "One by 2021" target for all FTSE 100 boards to have at least one director from a minority ethnic background by December 2021. At the time, only 51% of FTSE 100 companies had an ethnic minority director. It set a similar "One by 2024" target for all FTSE 250 boards.
The review, which launched today in partnership with the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), found that 89 FTSE 100 companies had at least one ethnically diverse director on their board as of 31 December 2021, compared to 74 in November 2020.