How Successful are Women in Breaking the Glass Ceiling? Evidence from the US Market

Despite significant progress made on gender equality and women’s empowerment, only a small number of women hold top management positions, especially in large enterprises. In 2000, there were only three female CEOs running Fortune 500 firms, significantly less than in 2008 where twelve Fortune 500 companies and twenty-five Fortune 1000 companies counted female CEOs or presidents. According to Catalyst, the 2011 list of women who currently hold CEO positions at companies that rank on the most recently published Fortune 500 list stands at sixteen. While these figures show a positive trend, the gender gap remains huge. Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, and Andrea Jung (Avon Products) are rather prominent exceptions of women who succeeded in reaching top management positions.