Though progress is slow, women are carving out more of a presence within the executive ranks, commanding 11.9% of corporate officer titles among the country's largest 500 corporations in 1999. This represents a 37% jump from 1995, according to the 1999 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners report. In addition, women top earners have more than doubled since 1995, swelling to 3.3% of all top earners from 1.2%.
Although healthcare is not among industries with the highest percentage of female corporate officers, it is far from the bottom.
Healthcare organizations enjoy mid-range rankings with managed care organizations employing the industry's highest percentage of female corporate officers at 16.2%. Women command 11.5% of corporate officer spots in pharmaceutical companies and 10% in the medical products and equipment sector. Diversified financials and transportation equipment is where women hold the most top-tier spots at 27.1% and 25%, respectively. At the far end of the spectrum are textile and trucking firms, which have zero representation of women corporate officers.
A key barrier to women making greater executive strides is their low access to line officer jobs - positions with profit-and-loss responsibility that often lead to top corporate spots, according to the report.
(Catalyst, Monica Blaizgis, 212/514-7600, www.catalystwomen.org)