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1 Center for American Progress |  The Women’s Leadership Gap
 The Women’s Leadership Gap
Women’s leadership by the numbers
By Judith Warner March 7, 2014
They earn almost
60 percent
 of undergraduate degrees, and
60 percent
 of all master’s degrees.
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 They earn
47 percent
 of all law degrees, and
48 percent
 of all medical degrees.
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 They earn more than
44 percent
 of master’s degrees in business and management, including
37 percent
 of MBAs.
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They are
47 percent
 of the U.S. labor force, and
59 percent
 of the college-educated, entry-level workforce.
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Women are
50.8 percent
 of the U.S. population.
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And yet…
 Alhough hey hold almos 52 percen o all proessional-level jobs,
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 American women lag subsanially behind men when i comes o heir represenaion in leadership posiions: Tey are only 14.6 percen o execuive officers, 8.1 percen o op earners, and 4.6 percen o Forune 500 CEOs.
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 Tey hold jus 16.9 percen o Forune 500 board seas.
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In he financial services indusry, hey make up 54.2 percen o he labor orce, bu are only 12.4 percen o execuive officers, and 18.3 percen o board direcors. None are CEOs.
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 Tey accoun or 78.4 percen o he labor orce in healh care and social assisance  bu only 14.6 percen o execuive officers and 12.4 percen o board direcors. None, again, are CEOs.
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Women make up a majority of the U.S. population
 
2 Center for American Progress |  The Women’s Leadership Gap
In he legal field, hey are 45.4 percen o associaes󲀔bu only 25 percen o noneq-uiy parners and 15 percen o equiy parners.
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In medicine, hey comprise 34.3 percen o all physicians and surgeons
 
 bu only 15.9 percen o medical school deans.
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In inormaion echnology, hey hold only 9 percen o managemen posiions and accoun or only 14 percen o senior managemen posiions a Silicon Valley sarups.
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Furthermore…
 Alhough women conrol 80 percen o consumer spending in he Unied Saes, hey are only 3 percen o creaive direcors in adverising.
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Teir image onscreen is sill creaed, overwhelmingly, by men.  Women accouned or jus 16 percen o all he direcors, execuive producers, pro-ducers, wriers, cinemaographers, and ediors who worked on he op-grossing 250 domesic films o 2013,
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 and were jus 28 percen o all offscreen alen on broadcas elevision programs during he 2012-13 primeime season.
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 When, however, here are more women behind he camera or a he edior’s desk, he represenaion o women onscreen is beter: Films writen or direced by women con-sisenly eaure a higher percenage o emale characers wih speaking roles.
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A stalled revolution
Te las decades o he 20h cenury brough considerable progress in women’s proes-sional advancemen in he Unied Saes. Te gender wage gap narrowed, sex segrega-ion in mos proessions grealy declined, and he percenage o women climbing he managemen ranks seadily rose. Alhough he rapid rae o change o he 1970s and 1980s began o slow in he 1990s and 2000s, as he narrowing o he gender wage gap salled
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 and he percenage o women in managemen jobs sagnaed,
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 a noable increase in women’s represenaion in very op posiions did coninue: In 1980, here were no women in he op execuive ranks o he Forune 100; by 2001, 11 percen o hose corporae leaders were women.
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From 1997 o 2009, women’s share o board seas in S&P 1500 companies increased 7.2 percenage poins, or 94 percen, and heir share o op execuive posiions increased by 2.8 percenage poins, or 86 percen. Te share o companies wih emale CEOs increased more han six-old.
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In recen years, however, he percenage o women in op managemen posiions and on corporae boards has salled.
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3 Center for American Progress |  The Women’s Leadership Gap
Teir presence in op managemen posiions oday remains below 9 percen.
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 Te percenage o women on all U.S. corporae boards has been suck in he 12.1 per-cen o 12.3 percen range over he pas decade.
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  A almos 17 percen, women’s represenaion on Forune 500 boards is slighly higher, bu i hasn’ budged in eigh years.
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Women of color face an even wider gap
Te represenaion o women o color in corporae leadership roles is worse sill. Women o color are 36.3 percen o our naion’s emale populaion and approximaely 18 percen o he enire U.S. populaion.
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 Tey make up abou one-hird o he emale workorce.
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And yet…
 Women o color occupy only 11.9 percen o managerial and proessional posi-ions.
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 And o hose women, 5.3 percen are Arican American, 2.7 percen are Asian  American, and 3.9 percen are Laina.
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 Women o color hold only 3.2 percen o he board seas o Forune 500 companies.
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More han wo-hirds o Forune 500 companies have no women o color as board direcors a all.
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How does the United States measure up to other countries?
In privae-secor women’s leadership, no so badly: We’re number six in womens economic paricipaion and opporuniy on he World Economic Forum’s 2013 Gender Gap Index o 136 counries.
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 Bu in he public secor󲀔and in our percenage o emale legislaors in paricular󲀔we lag ar behind many counries:Te Unied Saes currenly ranks 60h in women’s poliical empowermen on he Gender Gap Index.
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 Te world average or he percenage o women in naional parliamens is 21 per-cen󲀔slighly above he 18 percen in he U.S. House o Represenaives.
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Finland, Iceland, and Norway lead he way, wih 43 percen, 40 percen, and 40 per-cen emale legislaors, respecively, in 2012.
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I’s been esimaed ha or a counry such as he Unied Saes, which has a winner-ake-all voing sysem raher han a sysem o proporional represenaion and no quoas, i will ake unil near he end o his cenury o reach a level o 40 percen legislaive paricipaion by women.
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