First-Time Female Directors Gaining Ground on S&P 500 Boards

Women with no previous director experience are gaining a larger share of seats on S&P 500 corporate boards as companies respond to pressure to diversify leadership.

McDonald’s Corp., U.S. Bancorp, Trane Technologies Plc, Charles Schwab Corp. and Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings were among those that added female directors with no past experience on boards of publicly traded companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In all, a net 10 women were elevated to corporate boards last month.

It’s a trend that gathered momentum during the 2021 and 2022 proxy seasons, said Julie Daum, North American ...