The membership of boards and commissions in Missouri does not reflect the racial, ethnic and gender composition of the state. That’s according to a new report by University of Missouri-St. Louis and University of North Carolina researchers.

“Boards who wield the most power and the most resources … like planning and zoning, economic development, budget and finance … we call those ‘power boards,’" said study author and UMSL political scientist Anita Manion. “We find that men, particularly white men, are really overrepresented on those power boards in Missouri. The voices of women and people of color are diminished on these boards that have influence over things like segregation, housing prices, economic justice, and other issues.”

While women make up more than half the population in Missouri, they make up less than 37% of the members of boards and commissions. Similarly, while nearly 12% of the state's population is Black, only 5.4% of the representation on boards and commissions is made of Black members.