The news about U.S. women’s presence in the C-suite — and especially the CEO job — has been pretty bleak. Nationwide, fewer than 5% of CEOs of public companies are women. In the Fortune 500, that number fell by 25% from 2017 to 2018, dipping from 32 (6.4%) to 24 (4.8%), before rising back in 2019.
Research: Board Experience Is Helping More Women Get CEO Jobs
To groom women for the C-suite, help them get on a board.
July 29, 2019, Updated September 16, 2019
Summary.
A study comparing men’s and women’s paths to the CEO job found that women were significantly more likely to have served on a corporate board than men. And, for those recruited from the outside, women were much less likely than men to have had a CEO job in the past. This finding suggests that corporate boards may consider a combination of senior executive roles and corporate board experience to approximate prior CEO experience. It also suggests that companies wishing to groom women for C-suite roles should help high-potential women find outside board seats — and that ambitious women should seek board experience.