Representation of women and people of color on nonprofit boards and CEO gender and race

Abstract

PurposeThis study examines how the representation of women and people of color on nonprofit boards relates to CEO gender and race.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the 2020 data of 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in a Southeastern U.S. state. It employs the seemingly unrelated bivariate probit regression to simultaneously estimate the two equations for CEO gender and race.FindingsThe findings show that the proportion of board members of color is positively associated with having a CEO of color and a female CEO. The proportion of female board members is positively associated with having a female CEO, but not with having a CEO of color.Practical implicationsThe lack of a positive connection between women’s representation on the board and having a CEO of color may be attributable to the pervasive and systematic Whiteness in nonprofit leadership. The findings suggest that nonprofit boards reflect on the current executive hiring policies and practices to address existing racial biases or barriers.Originality/valueThis study’s findings reveal that the descriptive representation of women and people of color in the governing board is closely linked to their substantive representation in the form of selecting a woman or a person of color as the CEO. The findings also suggest an interconnection between the representation of people of color on the board and having a female CEO. However, women’s representation on the board is not related to having a CEO of color.