Home Depot Initiative Helps Women Hit 31% of S&P 500 Board Seats

A pair of new female directors at Home Depot Inc. were among 20 net new spots in S&P 500 boardrooms last month, helping women capture 31% of seats for the first time.

In addition to Home Depot, Oracle Corp., General Electric Co., Marriott International Inc. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. added new female board members in March, data compiled by Bloomberg show. For all companies in the benchmark U.S. index, the average number of female directors rose to 3.5 from 3.4, out of an average board size of 11.2.

Companies have been under pressure from investors, customers and employees ...