Business college debut's Board Walk of Fame honoring gender-diverse companies

As part of the Board Walk of Fame 2011 Awards Breakfast today, Lipscomb University College of Business debuted the official Virtual Board Walk of Fame, a permanent interactive display on campus that honors Tennessee’s female CEOs and directors as well as companies within the state that include women directors.

 

The 32 women and 11 companies honored at both the Board Walk of Fame breakfast in Allen Arena and on the Virtual Board Walk of Fame display in the Swang Business Center were identified as part of the 2010 “Women in Corporate Leadership” study, sponsored by Nashville CABLE and released at the breakfast.

 

The Virtual Board Walk of Fame, a kiosk located in the College of Business’ home in the Swang Center, serves as a tangible recognition of the role gender diversity plays in Tennessee’s economic success by listing information on female Tennesseans serving on boards throughout the nation, Tennessee-based companies that have installed women as directors and female CEOs of the state’s public companies as of 2009 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

 

The Board Walk of Fame will be updated continuously as the College of Business documents the results of progress made through the ongoing “Women in Corporate Leadership” study.

 

To see the 2011 honorees on the Virtual Board Walk of Fame click here.

 

The Virtual Board Walk of Fame display is available for public viewing during normal business hours. Attendees at the breakfast were invited to sign a digital guestbook that will be included in the computer display, and those who wish to show their support of breaking the gender barriers in Tennessee can visit www.adque.com/LUWOCB to sign the digital guestbook.

 

“At Lipscomb, ethical and equal business practices are not something that we view as optional. So we wanted to establish a bricks and mortar declaration to any businessperson, student or citizen who comes to our college that eradicating gender barriers in Tennessee is an important goal, not just because it’s fair, but because it makes sense for the bottom line,” said Turney Stevens, dean of the College of Business and member of the CABLE Advisory Board. “Our hope is that those who see this informational display will be inspired to help move Tennessee from last to first in gender equality in our nation.”

 

The College of Business partnered with CABLE five years ago to conduct a biennial census of SEC filings and document the number of Tennessee women serving as corporate board members and CEOs in public companies. The Lipscomb study, conducted for CABLE, is the only research of its kind in Tennessee.

 

The two previous studies found little improvement. The 2010 study was similar, finding that women remain underrepresented on the boards of directors and in the executive suites of Tennessee’s publicly traded companies. More than 91% of the 617 corporate directors were men at a time when women made up 48.0% of the Tennessee work force. Out of the 72 public corporations, 46% had no female directors at all.

 

To support CABLE’s goal to hold up the state’s more gender-diverse companies as examples to their peers, the Lipscomb College of Business established the Virtual Board Walk of Fame. Beginning March 2, it will list the 11 Tennessee public companies with two or more female directors. According to the study, they are: