| Tenth Anniversary of Census
Chicago, November 28, 2007 - After ten years of measuring the progress of women into the senior ranks of directors and executive officers at Chicago's 50 largest public companies, the gains are minimal and uneven, according to the 2007 Chicago Network Census, "Women Mean Business," released today. Over the past decade, while there have been significant percentage gains across the board, they have come off a small base.
Last year, there was a small increase in the number of women directors, but back only close to the 2005 level. More companies had women among top earners, yet there was a decline in the number of women executive officers for the second year.
The Chicago Network, an organization of the area's leading professional women, tracks the representation of women in key leadership positions - board members, executive officers and top earners - based on fiscal year 2006 proxy filings from the 50 largest publicly traded companies by revenue. This year's Census features case studies on Deloitte Consulting LLP, McDonald's Corporation and The Chicago Community Trust, plus advice from local and national business leaders on how to accelerate change.
Key findings for 2007:
- Women directors increased to 14.3% from 13.8%, after a decrease last year.
- Women executive officers decreased nearly a full percentage point to 13.8% from 14.6%.
- Twenty-nine companies (58% of the total) have women among top earners, up from 23 in 2006.
Highly qualified women remain largely untapped for leadership roles. The Census report notes that women represent half of the work force, influence 95% of all goods and services purchased and dominate higher education. Enlightened companies are already preparing for the shift in demographics by promoting women and putting them in positions of greater authority. The Chicago Network will be working with the search industry and other partners to assist in finding qualified women candidates for board roles in public and private companies and nonprofits.
"After a decade of tracking the numbers, there is one obvious conclusion." said Donni Case, chair of this year's Census, "Chicago companies are still not drawing from the full talent pool. There is also one future certainty: the battle for talent is intensifying. The winners will be those organizations that recognize the enormous potential for growing their human assets now."
Ten Year Trends
The ten-year results point to progress, but the Census cautions that the gains must be put in context. Increases peaked in 2005, and have fallen back since.
- Women directors are up 24.6%, from 61 to 76, or an average of 1.5 women per year.
- Women as a percentage of all directors have risen 40%, from 10.1% to 14.3%.
- Companies with no women directors are down 50%, from 8 to 4, and companies with multiple women directors have increased 41.2%.
- Women executive officers are up 57.4% from 47 to 74, though the number has fallen from 94 in 2005.
- Companies with no women executive officers are down 40%, from 20 to 12, and those with multiple women executives are up 100%.
The Census looked at women of color data again and found that the percentages of board members and executive officers in Chicago have decreased - to 3.5% of directors and 1.3% of executive officers.
The Census also looked at 30 of the leading nonprofits, where there are some encouraging signs. In the Chicago Nonprofit 30, Zoos and Botanic Gardens has the highest representation of women directors, with 28%. Arts, Culture and Humanities has the highest number of women top executive officers at 48%. Education lags considerably, with 14% women representation on boards, the lowest average among all categories.
"We would like to believe that companies will develop and promote their most capable people, a large number of whom are women and thereby increase the number of women executive officers," says Pamela Forbes Lieberman, chair of The Chicago Network. "The business case for diversity has long been recognized and the best companies will continue to capitalize on the talent of their employee base without regard to gender."
While the report notes that the Census results are troubling, some organizations have taken the lead in tapping women as a source of talent.
Noteworthy Company Performances:
- Four companies met or exceeded 25% representation of women on their boards: Kraft Foods Inc., Sara Lee Corporation, Sears Holdings Corporation and Hewitt Associates, Inc.
- Four companies exceeded 25% representation of women executive officers: Kraft Foods Inc., Laidlaw International, Inc., Sara Lee Corporation and Hewitt Associates, Inc.
The 2007 Census Report, including the Corporate Census and the Nonprofit Census, can be found online at www.thechicagonetwork.org. Data collection and analysis for the Corporate Census was again conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP. Research on the Nonprofit Census was compiled by the National Center for Charitable Statistics at The Urban Institute.
The Chicago Network, an organization of metropolitan Chicago's most distinguished professional women, has been committed to the advancement of women since its inception 28 years ago. Its more than 370 members have leading roles in academia, the arts, corporations, entrepreneurial enterprises, government, law, health, science and medicine, nonprofits, politics and professional service firms. The Chicago Network is a founding member of the InterOrganization Network (ION), an affiliated group of professional women's organizations in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Detroit, Florida, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, who advocate increasing the number of women serving in key executive roles in America's leading corporations.
» Download The 2007 Chicago Network Census in PDF format
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