Presidential Election May Increase The Volume of C-Suite Discussions

There's been plenty of discussion over the years about the paltry numbers of women and minorities who have a seat at the C-Suite table and on corporate boards across the US. Those issues have been drivers for the increase in small businesses started by women and minorities, two of the fasted growing business segments.

A recent survey conducted by IMD International Search and Consulting entitled "The Changing Face at the Top" uncovered some interesting and alarming trends.

• Only 20 percent of all executive committee members are female, with nearly one-half of respondents reporting no females whatsoever among their executive committee members.
• 78 percent of respondents believe diversity is an important strategy, but only 13 percent believe the number of minorities in the executive suite will increase over the next three years.
• Approximately 20 percent of C-Suite executives are a different nationality than the country in which their headquarters are based. However, less than 10 percent (9.2 percent of CEOs, 9.9 percent of CFOs and 8.1 percent of COOs) are of an ethnic minority.

Change begins with discussion and the volume is getting louder because of the diversity of the candidates running to win the President and Vice President positions for the US. And that's a good thing.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.