Based on its study of 105,000 directorships, ISS Analytics reportedly determined that newly-appointed women directors are far more likely to have prior board experience (32%) than newly-appointed male directors (23%), believed to be largely attributable to boards' continued reliance on fellow directors' recommendations for new board members, as reflected in PwC's 2016 Annual Corporate Directors Survey. That 884 public company director respondent survey revealed that board member recommendations were the #1 source of new directors (87% of boards) - far outweighing other sources, including search firms (60%), and management (52%) and investor (18%) recommendations.
Among the consequences: women directors tend to serve on a number of boards, with some serving on more than six boards concurrently. As noted in the article and previously on numerous occasions (see, e.g., "Consider This 5-Step Board Diversity Strategy" in Company News here, "Board Gender Diversity Progress: Here’s How," and "State Street to Boards: Here's How to Increase Your Gender Diversity"), broadening the candidate pool beyond the traditional acting or retired CEO/CFO criteria has repeatedly been identified as a key strategy to changing this dynamic and increasing board gender diversity. Furthermore, to the extent prior board experience is preferred for candidate sourcing, it appears male and female candidates are being considered differently.