By the Numbers

Today, we are nowhere near where we need to be in terms of representation in leadership positions—in fact, we are even losing ground in some sectors. Even though the public is ready, and women themselves are trained, educated, in the pipeline and prepared to lead, women in general — and women of color in particular — are vastly underrepresented at the top ranks of the 10 fields reviewed in the Benchmarks report. And in many key indicators such as pay, board seats and corporate officer posts, progress has stopped or even gone backwards in the last few years. Both the leadership gap and the wage gap between women and men persist at nearly every level of employment and grow wider as the status, prestige and rank of the leadership position rises.

• Academia: Nationally, women are 57 percent of all college students but only 26 percent of full professors, 23 percent of university presidents, and 14 percent of presidents at the doctoral degree-granting institutions.
• Business: Among Fortune 500 companies, women constitute only 3 percent of CEOs, 6 percent of the top paying positions and 16 percent of corporate officers. Women account for 15 percent of the board members and 13 percent of these Fortune 500 companies have no women on their board.
• Film and Television Entertainment: In film, women constitute 16 percent of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, and cinematographers. Among situation comedies, dramas, and reality shows in the 2008-2009 prime-ime television season, women made up one-quarter of all creator, directors, executive producers, and producers.
• Journalism:Although women have been the majority of college journalism majors since 1977, the average male to female ratio for bylines at 11 of the top political and intellectual magazines is 7:1.
• Law: Despite being nearly half (48 percent) of law school graduates, women make up only 18 percent of law partners and only one in four judges.
• Military: The military remains the only profession in the Untied States which under Department of Defense policy prohibits women from taking into certain jobs. This hinders women from being promoted to the top levels of leadership.
• Nonprofit: Women make up 45 percent of CEOS at nonprofits but only 21 percent of the CEOs at nonprofits with budgets of $25 million or more.
• Politics: Women make up only 17 percent of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; no woman has ever been president or vice president Women of color are completely absent from the Senate and account for only 5 percent in the house of Representatives.
• Religion: Although women overall constitute a majority of churchgoers (60 percent), men continue to dominate leadership role in the church and temple. On average in Judeo-Christian faith traditions in the United States, women currently make up only about 15 percent of Protestant clergy and rabbis.
• Sports: Only 21 percent of collegiate athletic directors are female; only six of the 13 Women's Basketball Association teams have head female coaches; and none of the National Basketball Association teams has a female head coach, general manager, or president.