ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses research to date on board member motivation and considers directions for future investigation. C. Cornforth suggests that too much attention has been given to governance volunteer characteristics – age, gender, socioeconomic background, and so on – with too little consideration of socio-psychological factors that may be particularly relevant to board functioning. Nonetheless, an overview of the research to date is provided here as an indication of current knowledge and a foundation for future research. A few studies reported variations among cohorts of governance volunteers that provide additional insight to the motivation. In contrast, board members indicated feeling a sense of purpose, being appreciated and gaining experience as the most important reasons for continuing. This appears to represent a shift over time from an initial combination of externally and internally directed motives to internally directed reasons for remaining with one’s board.
