Great Britain: ethnic under-representation is evident in more than a 1/3 of big company management boards

Management boards in 37% of the FTSE 100 listed companies (in terms of market capitalization) have no seats occupied by members of ethnic minority groups. This percentage rises to 59% for the broader FTSE 350, and only 15 of these companies actually have a CEO from an ethnic minority group. On 05 February an update report from the Parker Review was published. Three years ago the UK government commissioned the Parker review with a view to encouraging companies to shift traditional paradigms after a shock report in 2017, which severely criticized the lack of ethnic diversity at work (c.f. article No. 10091). The Parker review also provides advice to companies and has set several goals, a primary one of which is to have at least one BAME member (Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic) holding a seat in the boardroom. Sir John Parker, chair of the Parker Review Committee stated, “With less than two years to go to meet the first of these targets, it might seem that we are way off course.” Matthew Fell, the CBI’s Chief UK Policy Director however was more optimistic stating, “Businesses need the same focus on ethnicity diversity as on gender diversity. If they do, then meeting the 2021 target of at least one director from an ethnic minority background is still possible.”