The last decades of the 20th century brought considerable progress in women’s professional advancement in the United States. The gender wage gap narrowed, but the progress was uneven and is currently slowing. Simply stated, women and woman-identifying individuals are still falling behind on leadership attainment in the United States and across the globe. 

According to the U.S. Census, women make up 48% of the U.S. workforce, 40.5% of management positions, but only 29.2% of chief executives. Yet, women currently earn 60% of undergraduate degrees and 60% of all master’s degrees. They are also earning more law (47%) and medical degrees (48%), as well as 38% of MBAs and 48% of specialized master’s degrees. 

Despite all of these accomplishments, women in the U.S. continue to lag substantially behind men when it comes to their representation in leadership positions and in their creative and scholarly output. Also, significant racial and ethnic differences exist in women’s success in moving into leadership positions across various industries. Women of color comprise 19% of entry-level positions in the U.S. workforce, but only Managers (14%), Director/Senior Managers (10%), VP (8%), SVP (6%) and C–suite positions (5%).

In U.S. higher education, less than 30% of full professors and 27% of college presidents are women, while women of color hold only 3% of full professor roles. In 2020, women were underrepresented in educational leadership holding 28% of superintendent roles with women of color holding less than 5% of those positions. Women were only 6% of partners in venture capital firms in 2013 — down from 10% in 1999. 

In 2021, in the sport industry women held between 38 - 41% of office management and professional staff positions, between 28 - 32 % of the senior administrative/vice president positions, and only 3% or less of CEO or General Manager positions. Also, in 2021 within the U.S., intercollegiate athletic departments at the Division I level (highest level of sport competition), women held between 63 - 71% of academic support, life skills, and business operations positions, between 32 - 34% of assistant and associate athletic director positions, and 14% of athletic director positions.

In 2014, women were just 20% of executives, senior officers, and management in U.S. high-tech industries. In the entertainment industry, women accounted for just 17% of all the directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors who worked on recent top-grossing 250 domestic films.  

As demonstrated in the above data, there is a critical need for exceptional women holding diverse social identities who want to further develop their creative and critical thinking as well as their leadership potential in order to expand their opportunities.