NDC Study Shows Texas Lags Behind National Norms

The National Diversity Council’s 2016 study of 100 Fortune 1000 corporations in Texas, shows progressive companies making strides with Corporate Social Responsibility in terms of marketing and branding, but falling woefully short on CSR outreach and internal CSR Diversity and Inclusion initiatives to move minorities and women into executive leadership and board of director roles.

Using a combination of public, online and corporate research methods, NDC obtained biographical information on directors and executive leaders to measure racial, ethnic and gender diversity. The effect of corporate public commitment to Diversity and Inclusion was also measured.

ENCOURAGING CONVERSATION

The intent of this study is to encourage open and honest conversation about Diversity and Inclusion within the business community in Texas by providing a glimpse at the ranking leadership of some of the state’s largest and most successful companies. Some companies fare better than others, but all have an opportunity to improve leadership diversity to better serve exceedingly diverse audiences.

Some clear winners emerged in the NDC survey, including 25 Texas Fortune 1000 companies whose organizations measured with the highest percentages of women and minorities in executive leadership or board of director roles. Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Commercial Metals Company; Texas Instruments Incorporated; CenterPoint Energy, Inc.; EP Energy Corporation; Alliance Data Systems Corporation; Brinker International, Inc.; Tesoro Corporation; J.C. Penney Company, Inc.; and United Services Automobile Association round out the top ten. (see the full list at the end of this story)

MEASURING UP

Minorities are an ever-growing part of the Texas population, particularly in Dallas and Harris (Houston) counties, where 78 of the studied companies are headquartered, 25 and 53 respectively. But corporate leadership does not reflect the population balance in these areas. White men hold approximately 75-80% of all leadership positions. The percentage of executive level seats held by white parties, including men and women, is above 90%.

NDC’s study shows that the glass ceiling for women remains intact in Texas, with only 14.3% of executive leadership positions and 16.0% of board positions filled by females. Nationally, 29.3% of executive leaders and 19.9% of board members are women.

The Hispanic and Latino populations fare far worse. Comprising 16% of the total U.S. population in 2013 and 39% of people living in Texas, according to Pew Research, Hispanic or Latino individuals make up only 3.12% of corporate boards in the U.S. and only 2.4% in Texas.

STANDING STRONGER FOR DIVERSITY?

Forty-one of the 100 Texas Fortune 1000 companies surveyed make public commitments to Diversity and Inclusion through statements on corporate websites. While this support for D & I is an overall step forward, NDC research indicates no major distinction in the progress of women or minorities in leadership positions or on boards between those who do publish D & I statements and those who do not.

White males still dominate leadership positions 79.4% and boards of directors 71.7%. White women executives comprise 14.6% and 16.1% of board positions with executive leadership roles for minority men (4.6%) and women (1.5%), as well as seats on corporate boards (8.6% minority men; 3.6% minority women) lagging far behind.

Corporate supplier diversity is not reflected in the NDC data; however, observations show most Texas Fortune 1000 corporations as well as smaller sized companies have Diversity and Inclusion goals within supply chain decisions. Formal Diversity and Inclusion plans and results, in most cases, are not published and NDC encourages companies to share this information with the public.

All told, Texas falls below national norms. This presents an enormous opportunity for the more than two million Texas businesses to evaluate their corporate Diversity and Inclusion progress and set goals to not only diversify their workforces, but also their executive offices and board rooms. Corporations that are slow to see the value of Corporate Social Responsibility programs fall behind their competitors.