The Snail-Like Progress of Women Into the Executive Suite at the Nation’s Largest Companies

A new study by USA Today examined gender and racial diversity in the corporate suites of the nation’s 100 largest companies. In examining the rosters of CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and other top positions at these companies, the survey found that 7 of every 10 were White men. And they found that one in 7 of these large companies had executive teams that were made up entirely of White men.

Of the 533 executive officers at these 100 top firms, there were 90 women. They made up 17 percent of the total. Women of color made up just one percent of all executive officers at these firms.

The gap was widest for Hispanic women and Latinas of any gender or racial group in the survey. They comprised just 0.4 percent of named executive officers and were underrepresented by eighteenfold when compared with their share of the workforce. In the S&P 100, White men were nine times as likely as a Latina to be a named executive officer, according to the USA Today data.