- Mary T. Barra, General Motors Co. (GM)
Heather Bresch, Mylan Inc.
Ursula M. Burns, Xerox Corp.
Debra A. Cafaro, Ventas Inc.
Susan M. Cameron, Reynolds American Inc.
Safra A. Catz, Oracle Corp. (co-CEO)
- Lynn J. Good, Duke Energy Corp.
Marillyn A. Hewson, Lockheed Martin Corp.
- Ellen Kullman, EI DuPont De Nemours & Co. (DuPont)
- Lauralee E. Martin, HCP Inc.
Gracia C. Martore, Gannett Co. Inc.
Marissa Mayer, Yahoo Inc.
Sheri S. McCoy, Avon Products Inc.
Carol Meyrowitz, TJX Companies, Inc.
Beth E. Mooney, KeyCorp
Denise M. Morrison, Campbell Soup Co.
Indra K. Nooyi, PepsiCo, Inc.
Phebe N. Novakovic, General Dynamics Corp.
Debra L. Reed, Sempra Energy Corp.
Barbara Rentler, Ross Stores Inc.
Virginia M. Rometty, International Business Machines (IBM) Corp.
Irene B. Rosenfeld, Mondelez International Inc.
Meg Whitman, Hewlett-Packard (HP) Corp.
Methodology: This list is based on the S&P list of companies published by Dow Jones from October 2014. Whenever possible, we update our list throughout the year whenever a woman becomes CEO or departs a CEO position at any of the listed companies. Women are counted in our list starting on the date they officially take over their positions. We strive to keep this list accurate and timely; if you have found that we have missed something, or have any questions, please email us at [email protected].
Catalyst also maintains an historical list of women CEOs that have appeared on the Fortune list from 1972-2014. If you would like a copy of the list, email [email protected].
How to cite this product: Catalyst. Women CEOs of the S&P 500. New York: Catalyst, April 3, 2015.
30 Reader Comments
this is outrageous :( :(
Excuse me? On what grounds Joe? This is revolutionary. This is reality. I am so grateful to have role models beyond women in magazines and television shows. Thank you for sharing this Catalyst.
I think it's great!! Was able to send this to my gf who keeps complaining about no women being in leading roles. Especially since most of those companies are the leaders in both defense technology, mass production, and information technologies. Pretty key for the economy. Gots to get me a sugar momma!
How is this great exactly? You're glad because you can prove to your girlfriend that there are leaders in giant corporations that are women...... 24 OUT OF 500! 4.8%! That is dismal number.
I think (or at least I hope) he was referring to the fact that women only hold 4% of ceo positions and I agree. That number is outrageous and disgusting
How so? There is nothing disgusting about it. You are seeing change for the better, that women are being considered for the top jobs. They aren't just going to give 250 of the male CEOs the boot and replace them with females. That's not equality. Equality means that when a CEO position becomes vacant, that every capable candidate gets their fair shot regardless of gender.
dude... really? Wake up from whatever dream your're in.
Chloe and Jeff, I agree. @pink51Inc we want to salute these amazing women who have made it to the top! It is time for companies to be transparent about diversity in leadership and for all of us to support businesses with women in leadership positions. Women can turn their buying power into business power by shopping at companies where women have unlimited potential.
Jaime, I totally agree. I have an idea for you. How can we contact one another?
It is amazing ,our women are really on top of the game these days.I really agree with you.Nancy Solomon I fancy you a lot hope to contact you for a good deal
I do believe that Joe was probably stating the fact that only a mere 4.6% of CEO's are women. It is a revolutionary and fantastic start (and proud of it), but it is certainly not enough!
Anyone, can you tell me how many CEO's were female in 1985? I am trying to compare both times, 1985 and 23 of them in 2015.
Thank you,
Allie.
I'm looking for the same statistic. We're you able to get the number?
Hi Ruth. Allie submitted a request to the Catalyst Information Center and we were able to give her some info. Submit a request here if you'd like one too: http://www.catalyst.org/what-we-do/services/ask-catalyst
Excerpt from article at InfoPlease: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenceo1.html#ixzz3TpQTvPHA
But although women make up over half of America's labor force, as of 2009, only 12 Fortune 500 companies and 25 Fortune 1000 companies have women CEOs or presidents.
Catalyst, the not-for-profit New York-based women's research organization, points out that its data shows a change over the last ten years. In 1998, 11.2% of corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies were women. This percentage rose to a peak of 16.4% by 2005, but has since fallen and in 2008 it rested at 15.7%. While this is progress, Catalyst notes that, at this rate, it would take 40 years for the number of female corporate officers to match the number of male officers.
Figures haven't changed much over the years and it is still pathetic. The gendered occupational structure is definitely one of the main reasons for holding back many women on the pipeline.
It's about time that woman share not only in the power but the responsibility of forming our economy and our ways of living. Bravo to the group that made it this far.
And to the rest of the woman still climbing the ladders, the only way anyone will know you're interested in moving up, is if you open your mouth and let it be known. Don't whine about it or suffer in silence. Step up and demand your equal share. But remember, with every step comes more work, so be ready to show them all, man or woman, you can do it well.
Hello. I would like to know which CEO from which top 500 global business has written that book about why there is not more women in positions like hers.
If you could assist with this information, it would be most appreciated, otherwise I will do some more research inbetween building my own entrepreneurial business in the hope of achieving the same results. (I could do with the company - there are a lot of 'socialised' grown up girls in Australia and they even speak with a girly voice - it really is a bit sad. If you speak with a confident, determined and self-assertive voice the (wrong) people ask you what your problem is? (Of course I do not have one, they do ..tall poppy syndrome alive and well still in Australia - help!! I have billions of dollars of an amazing concept - I have the evidence - I can prove it.
thank you for your time
(It is called the Ah! Factor and it is to make people feel really good - what a good civic service that is: medium: interactive webportal - custom made & designed, existing menus & sub-menus for customer selection in order to have a unique positive experience during their busy schedule (whatever it is - content to suit each market and demographics). well all very good for me.
Have a nice day.
I look forward to hearing from you in a positive proactive and constructive and sincere way - highly ethical and yes it has already cost me a lot of money literally in Australia for that reason alone.
Hello.
Hello. Please submit direct requests on this form below. Thanks. http://www.catalyst.org/what-we-do/services/ask-catalyst
Congratulations to these amazing women, what an amazing accomplishment!
I hope next year these numbers will at least double!
Well, the figure is quite encouraging but India has to do a lot... I personally believe that these listed women CEO's should share their experiences and make it available for all women employees to learn. LEARNING from the Experience of EACH OTHER (LEO) should go on & on...then only we women can become the best. It is not necessary that all women will become CEO of the company, but we can at least start believing in our potential..... To add upon, I will like to mention that men also equally face difficulties in supporting and adjusting to women while women also struggle hard to be a part of the system she is inducted.
Congratulations Women!! great to see women getting a chance to prove themselves. Oh, I missed something, I thought Black people benefited from Affirmative action was I mistaken? 51 white women CEO's of S and P 500. 5 Blacks 1 Women. Mmmh. 10 times as many white women than Blacks combined. We had 9 terminated or retired black CEO'S in past 5 yrs and 3 white women fired or retired in same period. Boy beat us again.
I, for one, an ecstatic. I wish more women were in leadership positions, but remain optimistic about our current progress (though I agree with @b: we need more racial variety across the board). I'm sick of people saying women can't or shouldn't be higher-ups without screwing it up. It's about time we stopped letting this be "a man's world".
For all those congratulating themselves on a job well done, please tell me at what percentage of women leading S&P 500 or Fortune 500 does the problem of under-representation begin to disappear. I'd pegged the oversocialized boys and girls would begin to complain that the problem was a non-issue when the proportion rises from 5 to around 15%. That tipping point is similar to what whites show regarding the minority presence in their neighborhoods. I think for many men and women, the problem gets solved far short of anything like parity.
If memory serves me, when I worked with the data that Business Week published in their profile of the top 1000 corporate CEOs in the late 1980s, the number was south of 5 and in one or two cases, it was a woman who succeeded her late husband in the CEO spot.
Agree the numbers are way low. BUT - DuPont, IBM, GM, Oracle, HP, Lockheed - pretty impressive large corporations - maybe major corporations are more open than smaller companies.
Any ETF's devoted to investing in only companies with Women as CEO's or some other measuring stick that would be available to denote women in key roles at the top of the org?
Three I've heard of recently are Pax Ellevate Global Women’s Index Fund, Barclays Women in Leadership Total Return Index and Morgan Stanley’s Parity Portfolio. Anyone else know of any?
Hi everyone. This is great conversation in the comments! If you have an actual request for information, however, please submit it via this form to the Catalyst Information Center so we can properly track the request and ensure you receive the requested information:
http://www.catalyst.org/what-we-do/services/ask-catalyst
Sadly, many of those companies listed are ranked as some of the worst to work for because of mismanagement.
Yes, it is great that there are 23 women CEOs in the top 500 companies (up from zero not that many years ago), and yes, it's shameful. What it isn't is demonstrative of a system that is self-correcting, away from deeply embedded gender biases, to a system that acknowledges and values women's contribution to leadership. These women CEOs have found a way of making it in a male-normative system. They've found a way of walking the knife edge of the double bind: be assertive but not bitchy; be feminine but not too attractive or you won't be taken seriously.
Women's value as top leaders has been proven. Of the top 1000 companies in the US, the ones with the most women in upper management and on the boards outperformed the companies with few or no women. A study published in the Harvard Review showed that subordinates and peers considered women managers to be more competent than men 13 out of 16 measures, equal to men in 2, and less than men in one. It's time that we change the norm to be not only tolerant of the way women lead, but to value it.
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