Industry News
Women Missing From Critical Business Leadership, Says Catalyst Census of the Fortune 500
, 12-10-2009
New York — Dec. 10
Companies are still lagging in appointing women to board seats, and very few women hold executive officer positions, according to the “2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors” and the “2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners.”
“The time is up for ‘give it time.’ Women are approximately 50 percent of the labor pool and influence over 70 percent of household spending in the United States. It’s just smart business to include women in the decision-making process, and companies should implement strategies that set targets and timetables to do so,” said Ilene H. Lang, president and chief executive officer of Catalyst.
This latest research shows women’s share of board positions stagnated:
• Women held 15.2 percent of board seats, a number that reflects little growth over the past five years.
• Women of color held 3.1 percent of all board director positions, compared to 3.2 percent last year.
• Almost 90 percent of companies had at least one woman director, but less than 20 percent had three or more women serving together.
• Women’s share of nominating/governance committee chairs is the only board leadership position in which women are keeping pace with their share of overall board seats.
• Women’s share of board chair positions remained flat at 2.0 percent.
This year, Catalyst examined the Fortune 500 executive officer pool, a segment of the corporate officer pool used in previous Catalyst Census reports. Women’s representation among this group was unimpressive:
• Women made up 13.5 percent of executive officer positions and 6.3 percent of top earner positions.
• Almost 30 percent of companies had no women executive officers.
• Less than one-fifth of companies had three or more women executive officers.
“It’s not enough to recognize the need to advance women into leadership positions. It’s time to execute on it,” said Lang. “You cannot be a successful global business leader without women in your leadership. Catalyst research shows that companies with more women in leadership on average outperform those with fewer women, and those with three or more women board directors do even better. It’s time businesses take action and leverage the talent that women bring to the workplace. It’s good for women, good for men, and as our research demonstrates, good for business.”
For More Information www.catalyst.org
