Here’s the question to ponder this morning, the release day of the seventh biennial ‘A Seat at the Table’ report from Executive Women of New Jersey:
Should we celebrate the fact that 24 of the 82 N.J. companies on the Russell 3000 have a board that’s at least 35% female — worthy of an honor roll designation?
Should we note that the board representation of just four of those 24 was at least 50% female — with one, Hain Celestial Group, coming in at 63% (5 of 8)?
Should we mention that all of these numbers have improved dramatically since EWNJ authored its first report back in 2013?
Or should we simply remind companies that every study ever done demonstrates that the bottom line of companies with a diverse board always is better than companies without one?
It’s a challenging numbers game.
But, on a day when so much attention is being given to gender equity on boards — and in the workplace — we’ll salute those companies getting it right. Or, at least, the ones doing it better than most.
With that, the EWNJ’s ‘Seat at the Table’ honor roll from its seventh list:
50% or greater
- Hain Celestial Group Inc (5-of-8): 63%
- Barnes and Noble Education (4-of-7): 57%
- Organon & Co (6-of-11): 55%
- Kenvue Inc. (6-of-12): 50%
45-49%
- Merck & Co, INC (6-of-13): 46%
- Johnson & Johnson (5-of-11): 45%
- Universal Display Corp (5-of-11): 45%
40-44%
- Prudential (4-of-9): 44%
- Advansix (3-of-7): 43%
- PMV Pharmaceuticals (3-of-7): 43%
- Automatic Data Processing (5-of-12): 42%
- Lincoln Educational Services Group (4-of-10): 40%
- Conduent (2-of-5): 40%
- Middlesex Water (4-of-10): 40%
- PTC Therapeutics (4-of-10): 40%
35-39%
- American Water Works (3-of-8): 38%
- Insmed Inc (3-of-8): 38%
- J & J Snacks (3-of-8): 38%
- Mama’s Creations, Inc (3-of-8): 38%
- Urban Edge Properties (3-of-8): 38%
- Becton, Dickinson & Co (4-of-11): 36%
- Burlington Stores, Inc (4-of-11): 36%
- PSEG (4-of-11): 36%
- Verisk Analytics (4-of-11): 36%
These companies are being honored this morning at the Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park.
They are examples of a greater good.
This year, only four of New Jersey’s top companies, or 5%, had no women on their boards. This is a notable drop from 2013, however, when that was the case for 33, or 30%. (It should be noted there were only two in 2023.)
It also should be noted that women accounted for 228 of 780 (or 29%) of top executives among all the companies surveyed. This is an increase of two percentage points from 2023 and — stunningly — an increase of 13 percentage points in 2013, when the total was just 16%.
Numbers can be used to prove almost any point.
When it comes to the idea of more women serving on boards and in senior leadership, words tell a stronger story: The state has come a long way since 2013 – but it still has a long way to go.
