A decade of corporate women: some progress in the boardroom,none in the executive suite

Abstract

This study examines the extent to which women have circumvented the glass ceiling by empirically examining whether there has been an increase in women’s representation on corporate boards and CEO positions over the 10-year period from 1987 to 1996. Results indicate greatly increased representation on corporate boards. There is, however, no evidence of progress in, or towards, the CEO suite. Moreover, there is no evidence of that circumstance abating in the next several years. The number of female inside directors, an intermediate, and requisite, position in the succession to CEO, is astonishingly small, only 0.006 percent. Notably, there has been no increase in that proportion over the last decade. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.