The number of minority men who serve on boards at Fortune 100 companies decreased by 2.8 percent between 2004 and 2010, according to a study conducted by the Alliance for Board Diversity.

Minority men only made up 9.1 percent of board members last year, while the number of white men serving on corporate boards increased in the 6-year period by 1.7 percent to 72.9 percent of directors, according to the study, which was released on May 2.

In response to the study, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Luis Aguilar released a statement entitled “The Abysmal Lack of Diversity in Corporate Boardrooms Is Growing Worse.” “I find this status quo unacceptable and question why at a time when there are more qualified diverse board candidates, we have less diverse board members,” he said in the release.

African-Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics made up 33.7 percent of the U.S. population in 2010, and growth for these groups significantly outpaced that of whites, the study said, citing Census Bureau data. “Even though our nation has grown more diverse, the corporate boardroom is proving resistant to change,” Aguilar said in his statement.

The number of women on boards increased by a mere 1.2 percent, to 18 percent of directors total. Within that figure, the number of minority women increased and white women actually decreased, each by less than a percent, since 2004.

 

Source: The Alliance for Board Diversity

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