Gaining a Seat at the Table Remains a challenge for women in business.

By Fran Lotery and Lois Phillips Consulting

"Top performing companies have a higher representation of women on their leadership teams,” according to Ilene H. Lang, President, Catalyst, a New York based research and advisory company.

Catalyst completed a ground breaking study in 2004 that included the 353 Fortune 500 companies that sustained their Fortune 500 standing four out of five years (from 1996-2000). Catalyst found that companies that had the highest representation of women in top management, had 35.1% higher ROE (Return on Equity) and 34% higher TRS (Total Return to Shareholders) than companies with the lowest representation. Yet, in the 2002 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners, women only represented 15.7 percent of corporate officers in the Fortune 500. This is up from 12.5 percent in 2000 and 8.7 percent in 1995, when Catalyst started tracking women in top level positions, but the statistics tell only part of the story because, of the 15.7% of women corporate officers, only 9.9% hold line officer positions or “clout” positions. The remaining women are in executive “support” roles. In general, women continue to be invisible and undervalued.  95% of top earning positions are dominated by men and you can well imagine the statistics for women of color—1.6% up from 1.3% in 1999. 

In Catalyst’s last census of women board directors, board seats in the Fortune 500 increased from 12.4% in 2001 to 13.6% in 2003 with women of color comprising 3%.  Change is incremental, yet by 2010, women in the labor force will increase by almost 10 million, a growth rate almost one-third higher than men. Think of their purchasing power.

So what does all this mean?