Women Rising in Corporate Ranks

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By Kirstin Downey

Washington Post - November 19, 2002

Nancy Pelosi's ascent to the Democratic Party leadership in the House of Representatives (now the new Speaker of the House) reflects the steady progress of women in the political world. According to a new report, women also continue to climb the corporate ladder.

Women now hold 15.7 percent of corporate officer positions at large U.S. public companies, up from 8.7 percent in 1995, according to the report by Catalyst, a New York City-based research group. There are six female chief executives among the Fortune 500 firms, up from two in 1995. And women now make up 5.2 percent of all top-earning executives, up from 1.2 percent seven years ago, when Catalyst first began studying female employment patterns.

"There's progress, however slow, in every dimension year after year," said Sheila Wellington, president of Catalyst. "And this year, despite the poor economy, the number of women executives keeps going up, and that's heartening."

Female leaders in corporate America include Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard Co., S. Marce Fuller of Mirant Corp., Patricia F. Russo of Lucent Technologies Inc., Anne M. Mulcahy of Xerox Corp., Andrea Jung of Avon Products Inc. and Marion O. Sandler of Golden West Financial Corp.