support also comes from

The largest Houston public companies added eight new women to their boards in 2012, bringing female representation on Houston boards to over 8%. That’s compared to 17% for the boards of the largest U.S. public companies, as tracked by the S & P 500.

Executive search firm Spencer Stuart tracks board composition for its annual Houston Board Index. Jeff Hyler is managing director of Spencer Stuart’s Houston office.

“Historically, we’ve seen Houston falling behind other large cities, and that’s largely due to the heavy concentration of large industrial companies in Houston. We’re seeing more and more women in senior operating roles, so the potential candidate pool will only increase in future years.”

Sysco Corporation has the largest female representation among companies on the Houston Board Index with three women directors. Just over half of the companies on the index have at least one female board member. By contrast, women sit on over 90% of the S & P 500 boards.