Investor pressure, according to the PWC Corporate Board report, caused almost half of company directors to report that their companies added a not-white-male member to their boards last year. Still, 1 in 10 directors identified the “optimal” number of women board members to be between 0 and 20%; besides the prevalence of men on boards, the leader of the study thinks generational differences are contributing to this finding, given that the average board member age is 63.

Brookings' demographer Dr. William H. Fey writes that young minorities in the US will drive the drive the labor force to grow more than 5% by 2030 where, without them, the labor force would decline by 8%. Quoting Fey, "To ensure we harness the power of our demographic shifts we need to:

• Pay attention to the needs of the next generation. We need to provide education supports, pathways to the middle class, job training, and federal as well as local support for families.
• Consider how to support the places where minorities are moving but haven’t been before to make sure people access the opportunities they need.
• Ensure that communities and the nation understand the consequences of the fact that, increasingly, the older generation and younger generation seem to vote much differently."

In the US, only about one-third of employees report being engaged at work. Engagement is tied to lower absenteeism and turnover, and higher productivity and profit. A Gallup employee engagement survey found that women employees are 6 percentage points more engaged than male employees (41% vs. 35%).  In addition, employees who work for women managers have 6 points higher engagement than employees who work for male managers. 

A new study of Latinas in the workforce finds that the vast majority (80%) want to be able to express their full identity at work. More Latinas than non-Hispanic women say they “dress more conservatively” and modify their hair styles to be successful at work.

Quoting from the Time Inc. BusinessWire release:

• 31% of Latinas say, “I must dress more conservatively than my co-workers in order to be taken seriously” (vs. 21% of non-Hispanic Caucasian women).
• 35% of Latinas say, “The way I style my hair impacts how successful I am at work” (vs. 25% of non-Hispanic Caucasian women).
• 51% of Latinas indicate they are the first in their family to go to college (vs. 38% of non-Hispanic Caucasian women).
• 69% of Latinas say, “I am primarily responsible for the cooking in my family” (vs. 78% of non-Hispanic Caucasian women, indicating how cultural expectations are undergoing a shift).

Writers from the NeuroLeadership Institute cite several research studies supporting the idea that people prefer to work in situations where they can apply cognitive rules-of-thumb or mental shortcuts that come from being around others with similar backgrounds, and that they overestimate the level of conflict that arises when diverse perspectives are brought to the table. They conclude that diversity needs to be more than a “social obligation,” and that discussions intentionally celebrating different perspectives unleashes more critical and creative thought.

In the Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey for 2015, more than a third of workers in management, business, finance and professional occupations worked from home some of the time. Of all workers, 24% worked at home some of the time. The survey report also reveals data about how much time women and men spend each day on household tasks, providing childcare and leisure. Men's share of household activities continues to rise while women's decline, though with women spending 2.6 hours a day on these tasks vs. 2.1 hours for men.

This year’s “Women in the Workplace: Roadmap to Gender Equality” by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company found:
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• Women continue to be underrepresented at all company levels, and women of color are the most underrepresented group in the pipeline.
• Women are promoted at lower rates than men, resulting in fewer women in the pipeline to leadership (130 men are promoted for every 100 women).
• Women continue to face more barriers to success, including lack of access to sponsors, less frequent feedback and less opportunity in day-to-day interactions.
• Women negotiate for promotion or raises as often as men but are 30% more likely to get feedback that they are ‘bossy,’ ‘too aggressive,’ or ‘intimidating.’
• The study finds a disparity in aspirations - only 40% of women aim to become a senior executive compared to 56% of men, yet this may be the result of women making a different cost-benefit analysis faced with a steeper climb to the top and extraordinary pressure.

To move forward, the report recommends that each company determine where their largest “pipeline challenges” are to appropriately prioritize their efforts.

Social science data confirm that people are much more likely to encounter subtle forms of bias than overt ones. In a review of 90 academic studies, researchers found that subtle discrimination may be worse than overt discrimination. They recommend that companies limit opportunities for bias in people-related decisions, and that they provide diversity training that increases awareness and empathy, paired with setting behavioral goals and learning behavioral strategies.

​Futurestep polling of executives worldwide finds that 63% say having women in STEM helps them be more profitable but 30% say they do not require women to be part of the recruitment pool. When asked about the number of women in STEM in their organizations compared to 5 years ago, 59% say there are more, 33% say the numbers are about the same, and 8% say there are fewer women. According to Whitehouse.gov, there could be 2.4 million unfilled STEM jobs by 2018, presenting the opportunity to increase hiring women in STEM. 

​Marketing consulting firm OutNow released a report about "LGBT Allies," those in the global workforce who support their LGBT colleagues both because it is the right thing and the smart thing for businesses to do. The most common form of support (97%) is simply talking about LGBT people and issues positively. 43% identified speaking up against defamatory comments or jokes as a critical part of being an ally. The authors concluded that management providing formal support to LGBT allies is the most powerful element of success.