Although we’ve recently seen some positive movements when it comes to women in leadership roles, a new report reveals that women often need to be more qualified than men to be considered for CEO positions.
Barriers and Breakthroughs: A Data-Driven Look at Women CEOs at America’s Largest Corporations, conducted by Women’s Power Gap, analyzed the career paths of all current S&P 500 CEOs, and its results challenge the misconception that women reach CEO roles through lowered standards or diversity quotas.
In fact, it found that women CEOs are 32 percent more likely than men to have served as company president before becoming CEO, reflecting an additional step in leadership experience.
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In contrast, men were more likely to advance from division head positions (29 percent v 23 percent) or COO (17 percent v 8 percent) than women.
Additionally, women are more likely to have served as chief financial officer (CFO) prior to becoming CEO. Some 10 percent of female CEOs held this role compared to 6 percent of male CEOs, indicating strong financial expertise among women leaders.
Yet, despite all this experience women remain underrepresented at CEO level. Though in 2024, women comprised 17 percent of newly-appointed CEOs (11 of 64), only 48 women led S&P 500 companies (10 percent), up from just nine per cent in 2000.
The final drop
Frustratingly, the report identifies a phenomenon that affects many women, which sees them stuck on the second-to-last rung of the ladder, not quite reaching the top.
Specifically, among S&P 100 companies, women occupy 24 percent of the three main launch positions (COO, president, and head of division/regional market), yet only 8 percent of CEO positions.
Whereas men hold 76 percent of launch positions, and 92 percent of CEO roles.
The report also highlights the uneven distribution of women across particular executive roles.
Some 76 percent of CHRO roles are performed by women, while 56 percent of Chief Marketing Offers are also women.
These roles are less frequently linked to the CEO track; men are three times more likely to take profit-linked roles that lead to CEO opportunities.
Lots more to do
No women founders serve as CEOs of S&P 500 companies, compared to 29 men who are founders and CEOs, indicating a gap in entrepreneurial leadership.
Women of color face even greater underrepresentation. At the time of the report, there were no Black or Hispanic women CEOs in the S&P 500, and only six Asian women CEOs, while men of color held a higher share of CEO roles.
Things aren’t a whole lot better for non-white men either. Asian, Black, and Hispanic men comprised 37 (7.4 percent), eight (1.6 percent), and 17 (3.4 percent) of the CEOs, respectively.
Meanwhile, among the highest paid executives in S&P 100 companies, women of color represented three percent, while men of color represented 18 percent.
The report concludes that though we have women CEOs at major corporations like Oracle (Safra Catz), Accenture (Julie Sweet), and GM (Mary Barra), there is still a long way to go.
As explored previously on The Hill, a 2022 study from three U.S. academics entitled “Potential” and the Gender Promotion Gap, revealed men are often promoted for showing promise, while women are expected to have achieved something significant first.
Advanced AI resume screening software, like Dash, can be trained to ignore names and any details that give away an applicant’s gender, ensuring a much more equitable hiring process.
However, for very senior roles like CEO, promoting and sourcing candidates is more likely to be person-to-person, relying heavily on internal networks and direct relationships, rather than broad external searches.
It’s clear that closing the leadership gender gap in America’s largest corporations still requires continued effort. And Women’s Power Gap’s report calls on companies to remove structural barriers, and foster merit-based culture to ensure equal opportunities for all aspiring leaders.
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