Women Power on Boards Slow To Increase

A press release on the 2007 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors, Corporate Officers, and Top Earners of the Fortune 500 said women held 14.8% of all Fortune 500 board seats in 2007 compared with 14.6% in 2006. There was virtually no change in the numbers of companies with zero, one, two, and three or more women on their boards, and the percentage of women of color director positions was 3% compared with 3.1% in 2006, the release said.

However, the study found women held a greater percentage of powerful board committee chair positions in 2007 compared with 2006: 15.1% of the nominating/governance committee chairs in 2007 were female.   “We welcome the news that some progress is being made, but the overall findings are disappointing,” said Ilene H. Lang, President of Catalyst, in the release.

Similar stagnant growth in numbers was found in women corporate officer and top earner positions in the Fortune 500. Women held 15.4% of corporate officer positions in 2007, compared wtih 15.6% in 2006, and the percentage of women in top-paying positions stayed the same at 6.7%.

There was a 15.6% increase in the number of companies that had no women corporate officers, from 64 companies in 2006 to 74 companies in 2007, and the percentage of women in line positions that often lead to top leadership jobs fell from 29% to 27.2%.

The 2007 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors, Corporate Officers, and Top Earners report and its appendices are available at www.catalyst.org .