The Emergence of the Sheconomy
By Dixie Downing
The proportion of women in leadership positions is growing.
Yet, disparities among men and women are still high. Of global Fortune 500 ranked businesses, women accounted for 7.4 percent of CEOs in 2020 — up from 5 percent in 2015. Women held 29 percent of senior management positions in 2020 — up from just 22 percent of positions in 2015. While women account for 75 percent of nonprofit workers, only 20 percent of U.S. nonprofits with a budget of $50 million or more actually have female CEOs.
In 2020, women accounted for 47 percent of the overall U.S. workforce and 52.5 percent of the college-educated workforce. According to The Center for American Progress, women made-up a majority of university and master’s degree recipients at 57 and 59 percent, respectively, in 2020. Of professional degrees, women earned 47.5 percent of medical degrees and 48.5 percent of law degrees. In contrast, women only made up 22.7 percent of partners at law firms and 16 percent of all medical school deans.
Women made great strides in politics in the 2020 elections with more women running for office than ever before. Vice President Kamala Harris has soared higher in national leadership than any woman in history, but it does not stop there. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains the first woman in this role while women hold 142 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives as opposed to 127 seats held in 2019 — this group includes a historic 51 women of color and 2 women of the LGBTQ community. Unfortunately, the pink wave did not come through on the Senate side with only 24 women serving in 2021 as opposed to 26 in 2019. However, it is important to identify progress where it is. In 1992, only 2 women served in the U.S. Senate. On the state level, women hold a record 28 percent of State Senate seats and 32 percent of State House or Assembly seats.
Women have made great strides in recent history to break glass ceilings and earn a seat at the table. However, statistics still show shocking disparities among men and women. The sheconomy spans throughout the world and includes a wide variety of prevalent topics and questions. The purpose of this blog is to explore the continuously increasing range of women’s issues using statistics and the research and perspectives of various writers from all walks of life.
Sources:
Bleiweis, Robin. “The State of Women’s Leadership — And How To Continue Changing the Face of U.S. Politics.” The Center for American Progress. January 15, 2021.
Catalyst. “Women in Management: Quick Take.” Catalyst. August 11, 2020.
Kumar, Anu. “It’s Time To Face The Facts: We Have A Gender And Diversity Problem In The Nonprofit World.” Forbes. February 3, 2020.
Medland, Dina. “Today’s Gender Reality In Statistics, Or Making Leadership Attractive To Women.” Forbes. March 7, 2016.
Warner, Judith et al. “The Women’s Leadership Gap.” The Center for American Progress. November 20, 2018.
