Issue link: https://digital.shearman.com/i/1035494
Shearman & Sterling LLP Board Refreshment | 77 DIVERSITY Companies vary considerably in how they present information regarding board diversity in the proxy statement. In 2018, the number of Top 100 Companies that presented information about the diversity of its board on an aggregated basis, as opposed to presenting director-specific information, increased from 53 companies in 2017 to 70 companies in 2018, and a few companies included both aggregated and director-specific information. The number of companies that did not present any information on the diversity composition of the board decreased from 26 companies in 2017 to 18 companies in 2018. Where aggregated diversity information for the board was presented, 51 of the Top 100 Companies presented separate categories of diversity as opposed to aggregating under a single "diversity" heading. The most commonly identified category of diversity was gender/gender identity and race/ ethnicity, which increased from 51 and 33 companies, respectively, in 2017 to 72 and 53 companies, respectively, in 2018. Various other categories were included that identified the cultural background of directors, such as national origin, citizenship and place of birth. Aggregated information for all directors Director specific information presented No information presented on the diversity composition of the board 46 53 26 46 70 18 46 53 26 46 70 18 2017 2018 16 19 37 51 2017 2018 Aggregated under single "Diversity" heading Presented separately 72 51 4 1 12 8 19 11 53 33 Gender/Gender Identity Tenure Race/Ethnicity Age Background (Culture, National Origin, Citizenship) 2017 2018 39 36 8 27 Director biography Governance section Of the 46 Top 100 Companies that present director-specific information, 36 companies included the information in each director's biography as opposed to a governance section.* 2017 2018 *In 2017 and 2018, one and 17 companies, respectively, presented diversity information in both the director biography and governance section.