The controversy surrounding lack of women on Twitter鈥檚 board of directors as it is going public with an IPO, has rekindled interest in diversity on corporate boards. In research conducted at the 妻友社区, my colleagues Vicki Kramer, Alison Konrad and I showed that having a critical mass of three or more women improves board governance. Catalyst (2007) and McKinsey (2012) subsequently reported that companies with diverse executive boards enjoyed significantly higher earnings and returns on equity. When there is a business case to be made for greater diversity on boards, the usual excuse is that there are too few qualified women, buttressed by the small number of female CEOs. But let鈥檚 look at the facts: not all male board members are CEOs. A board needs diversity in professional expertise as well as gender, race, and nationality. People making excuses for high tech companies鈥� lack of female board members...

 Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that denying recognition and benefits to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. Gay and lesbian couples who are legally married (they are able to do so in 12 states and the District of Columbia) will be able to take advantage of such benefits as tax breaks and pension rights that are available to other married couples. Further, legally married same-sex couples will have the same immigration rights as heterosexual couples. Reflecting on the Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling, I am reminded of the research study my colleagues and I launched in May 2004, when the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts鈥� decision went into effect, making Massachusetts the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. My colleagues and I interviewed 50 same-sex couples in Massachusetts and their children. Some of the couples had chosen to get married and some had not. Whether or not a given couple chose to marry, they talked...

Five years ago, my colleagues Vicki W. Kramer, Ph.D., Alison M Konrad, Ph.D. and I studied the effect on boardroom dynamics of increasing women鈥檚 presence. We interviewed 50 women directors, 12 CEOs (9 male), and seven corporate secretaries at Fortune 1000 companies. The results showed that the benefits of having women on a corporate board are more likely to be realized when three or more women serve on a board. Two recent reports released by Catalyst of Fortune 500 women board directors, executive officers, and top earners, show that 鈥渨omen鈥檚 share of Board Director and Executive Officer positions increased by only half a percentage point or less during the past year鈥濃�攖he seventh consecutive year of no improvement in the number of board seats women held. The reports further demonstrated discouraging data for women of color and women鈥檚 earnings at the highest levels within the organizations. What we found in our study鈥攁nd...