Does Gender Matter on Nonprofit Boards of Directors?

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Margaret Reid, chair of the Department of Political Science.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Margaret Reid, chair of the Department of Political Science in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, gave a workshop on gender during BoardSource’s 2014 Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. The conference attracted more than 800 attendees, including more than 90 speakers.

According to the forum’s website, “Speakers at the BoardSource Leadership Forum have always been among the most influential and knowledgeable in the nonprofit sector. They are inspiring leaders who are catalyzing change; researchers and consultants who are on the front-line of understanding effective governance and its influence on mission impact; and board chairs, board members and chief executives who have led their organization to extraordinary heights.”

 Reid has a long-standing interest in the role that gender and diversity play in workplace settings.

“Surprisingly, our knowledge of nonprofit board composition is quite limited,” Reid said. “Research has shown however, that organizations that make inclusion a critical piece of their mission tend to outperform those who do not.”

Nonprofits typically serve diverse communities, and while female employees and even executive directors are now common, many boards remain non-diverse. Out of 60 presentations at the conference, Reid’s “Does Gender Matter on a Board of Directors” was the only one to explicitly address the role of gender. The discussion included governance style, succession planning and professional practice and research.

The presentation dovetails with other aspects of Reid’s work. A project she recently started with a colleague at the University of Arkansas Little Rock will map nonprofit board composition in Arkansas. Their goal is to determine if there is an association between board composition and organizational performance.

Several years ago, Reid created See Change, a training program designed to engage senior managers and members of their boards of directors in efforts to change and improve governance practices in Arkansas nonprofits. The program brings staff and board members together to discuss practices that lead the organizations to become high-performing nonprofits.

With colleagues, Reid conducted the first national survey on strategic management and planning practices, to be published in the journal Strategy and Leadership. She is currently conducting research on members of boards of directors serving on multiple boards and women on nonprofit boards.

BoardSource is a national organization to seeking to improve nonprofit governance and board practices. It recognizes the critical role that boards play in guiding their organizations’ mission, finances and strategic direction. With more than 25 years of experience working with nonprofit boards, the organization has become a resource for funders, partners and nonprofit leaders who want to increase their impact within their communities through governance practices.