How many women on the board? Fewer companies are saying
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The number of companies publicly disclosing data on women in top management roles or other demographic information plunged this year, a new report finds.
Why it matters: It's harder to identify gender and racial discrimination inside firms without this data.
The big picture: In the wake of the White House's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion, companies are racing away from anything related to DEI — including simply releasing demographic data on employees and leaders.
By the numbers: The share of S&P 500 companies disclosing how many women are sitting on their board of directors fell to 60% in 2025 from 91% the previous year, per a report on Monday that looked at public filings and disclosures from The Conference Board, a think tank, and analytics firm ESGAUGE.
- That's still a majority, but 30 points is a steep drop.
- Disclosure of racial and ethnic diversity also fell sharply: The share of firms disclosing racial/ethnic diversity metrics fell to 45% from 72%.
Catch up fast: For at least the past decade, there was a push for more transparency on demographic data from public companies coming from investors, proxy advisors and regulators.
- Often it was a way to garner good publicity, and a signal that a firm cared about equality and fairness. Proponents argued that it was a means to increase diversity inside companies — considered a business imperative.
- But there was a good deal of pushback in the courts and elsewhere from conservative groups that argued that looking at gender and race information was itself unfair and discriminatory.
Zoom out: The trend toward transparency started to reverse in 2023, when the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in universities.
- The ruling "prompted broader corporate reassessment of race- and identity-conscious programs," and was "a key inflection point," per the Conference Board.
- Then last year, a different court struck down a rule, approved by the Securities and Exchange Comission, requiring companies to have at least one woman director and one from an underrepresented group — or to publicly explain why they didn't.
The real earthquake came in 2025, when Donald Trump took office and embarked on a steady drumbeat of anti-DEI moves through executive orders and new rules demanding changes inside companies and universities.
Friction point: The recalibration inside Corporate America conflicts with international disclosure standards.
- Companies are still internally considering DEI — an increasing share are disclosing which board committees oversee the practice, assessing for legal and political risk.
The bottom line: An aggressive backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion from conservative groups, the courts and the White House has sent corporate America running away from its previous set of priorities.
