Quick Takes

Published: December 2009

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Women at the Top

• Fortune 500 executive officer positions held by women in 2009: 13.5%, or 697 out of 5,161.¹
• Fortune 500 corporate board seats held by women in 2009: 15.2%, the same as in 2008, and just slightly higher than the 2007 percentage of 14.8% and the 2006 percentage of 14.6%.²
• Financial Post 500 corporate officer positions held by women in 2006: 15.1%, up from 14.4% in 2004.³
• Financial Post 500 corporate boards seats held by women in 2007: 13.0%, up from 12.0% in 2005, 11.2% in 2003, and 9.8% in 2001.⁴

The Labor Force

• In 2008, women made up 46.5% of the labor force5 and 50.8% of managerial, professional and related positions.⁵
• In 2008, 59.5% of all women over 16 were in the labor force, compared to 73.0% of all men. ⁵
• Number of African-American women employed in management, professional, and related occupations: 2,674,000 (5.1% of all people employed in management, professional, and related occupations).⁷
• Number of Asian-American women employed in management, professional, and related occupations: 1,485,000 (2.8% of all people employed in management, professional, and related occupations).⁷
• Number of Latinas employed in management, professional, and related occupations: 1,907,000 (3.6% of all people employed in management, professional, and related occupations).⁷
• In 2007, 55.1% of all mothers with children under 1 were in the labor force.⁸
• The overall labor force participation rate of parents with children under 18 in 2007 was 71.0% for mothers and 94.3% for fathers.⁹

Women in Law

For the 2006-2007 academic year, women made up 46.7% of law school students10, but 34.4% of all lawyers11 and 18.7% of all partners.¹²

Women and MBAs

• Women earned 37.1% of MBAs in 2008, up from 35.5% of MBAs conferred in 2007. In 2006, women earned 36.0% of MBAs, 33.9% in 2005, 33.7% in 2004, 33.6% in 2003 and 34.5% of degrees in 2002.¹

SOURCES

¹ Rachel Soares, Nancy M. Carter, and Jan Combopiano,2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners (Catalyst: 2009).

² Rachel Soares, Nancy M. Carter, and Jan Combopiano,2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors (Catalyst: 2009).

³ Catalyst, 2006 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners of the FP500 in Canada(2007).

⁴ Laura Jenner, Monica Dyer, Lily Whitham,2007 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of the FP500: Voices From the Boardroom (Catalyst: 2008).

⁵ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population by age, sex, and race, 1973-date" (2009). 

⁶ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 11: Employed and experienced unemployed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, annual averages, 2007" (2008). 

⁷ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 1: Employed and experienced unemployed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, Annual Average 2008," unpublished data.

⁸ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Characteristics of Families, "Table 6: Employment status of mothers with own children under 3 years old by single year of age of youngest child and marital status, 2006-2007 annual averages" (2008). 

⁹ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Characteristics of Families, "Table 5: Employment status of the population by sex, marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18, 2006-2007 annual averages" (2008). 

¹⁰ American Bar Association, "First Year and Total J.D. Enrollment by Gender 1947-2007" (2008). 

¹¹ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 11: Employed and experienced unemployed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, annual averages, 2008," Annual Averages (2009). 

¹² The National Association for Law Placement, "Law Firm Diversity Demographics Slow to Change - Minority Women Remain Particularly Scarce on Law Firm Partnership Ranks" (2008). 

¹³ The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, unpublished data (2009).

UPDATED December 9, 2009