Only 25 Women Hold CEO Jobs at S&P 500 Companies

June 6, 2018 by Douglas A. McIntyre

Research and advocacy firm Catalyst has released the list of women who are chief executive officers of S&P 500 companies. The figure is 25, or 5% of the universe. The move to get women to break the “glass ceiling” between them and the leadership of America’s largest companies is not working.

The list shows there is little concentration by industry, indicating that female CEOs are not confined to jobs in companies that cater to women. The list includes women in energy, finance, tech, consumer products, autos and retail.

Recently, experts have argued that the list of women who qualify for CEO jobs has grown exponentially over the past several decades, whether this is based on those who have MBAs, those who have held senior positions in their companies or women who have served on boards of those large corporations. None of that progress has mattered.

From Catalyst, the list as of June 1:

Mary T. Barra, General Motors Co. (GM)

Gail Boudreaux, Anthem Inc.

Heather Bresch, Mylan N.V.

Michele Buck, The Hershey Company

Debra A. Cafaro, Ventas, Inc.

Safra A. Catz, Oracle Corp. (co-CEO)

Mary Dillon, Ulta Beauty

Virginia Drosos, Signet Jewelers Limited

Adena Friedman, Nasdaq

Michelle Gass, Kohl’s

Lynn J. Good, Duke Energy Corp.

Tricia Griffith, The Progressive Corp.

Marillyn A. Hewson, Lockheed Martin Corp.

Vicki Hollub, Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Patricia Kampling, Alliant Energy Corp.

Margaret Keane, Synchrony Financial

Beth E. Mooney, KeyCorp

Indra K. Nooyi, PepsiCo, Inc.

Phebe N. Novakovic, General Dynamics Corp.

Patricia K. Poppe, CMS Energy

Barbara Rentler, Ross Stores, Inc.

Virginia M. Rometty, International Business Machines (IBM) Corp.

Susan N. Story, American Water Works Company, Inc.

Geisha Williams, PG&E Corp.

The S&P 500 may have more female CEOs in a year. However, that is not guaranteed. It is possible that as the women currently on the list retire, they will be replaced by men. That could make the balance worse, but who would be surprised?

Methodology: The S&P 500, published by Dow Jones, is not a static list. Catalyst accesses the list annually in conjunction with this CEO list and its Census and Pyramid products. Whenever possible, it updates the women on the list throughout the year. Women are counted in the list starting on the date they officially take their positions.

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