Want women’s issues represented?
We need women in leadership.
Since the 1990s, women have outnumbered men in college completion rates and now make up nearly half the workforce, but the glass ceiling on leadership mobility persists. Across fourteen job sectors, even when women outperformed men, they still did not have parity in salaries and positions. That is especially true in the political arena. At the current rate, overall parity will not be reached in the United Stated until 2085. Institutional bias, obstacles like the influence of money in politics, and overt and subconscious discrimination against women – in particular women of color – must be addressed head on to close the leadership gap.
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This factsheet is a part of PowHer the Vote, a campaign to ignite and equip New Yorkers to advance women’s issues in the 2016 election.
Ask Your Candidate How can the state encourage women’s leadership in business and politics?
97th
The U.S rank in the world for
women’s representation in government.
4.6%
The percent of S&P 500 Companies
that have women CEOs.
12%
Women ages 25-34 in 2013 had a master’s,
doctorate or professional degree.
What’s Happening In New York?
- Out of 27 states that have at least eight companies on the 2015 Fortune 1000, New York State was one of six states that exceeded the threshold of 20% women on their boards on the GDI.
- As of 2012, there were 725,709 women-owned businesses in New York.
- NYS legislature is only 22% female, with 17.5% female state senators and 26.7% female state representatives.
- Proportion of Statewide Elected Executive Offices Held by Women: 20%
What’s Happening Nationally?
- Only 25.1 % of executive- or senior-level officials and managers at S&P 500 companies are women, and just 4.6% of these companies have women CEOs.
- 65% of the 960 active Fortune 1000 companies have 20% (or less) of women on their board.
- Women are still a minority in the 114th United States Congress.
- The U.S ranks 97th in the world for women’s representation in government.
- In 2012, women earned 60% of all master’s degrees and 51% of all doctorates (up from 21% in 1977).
Resources for Women in Leadership
Benchmarking Women’s Leadership
The Catalyst Research Center For Equity In Business Leadership
Women and Politics
- Biggest barriers to running for national office are not family demands. Rather, they’re fundraising requirements and party support.
- Fundraising named the biggest barrier to running for higher office, with two-thirds of women saying it is difficult to raise the money needed to run effectively and nine in ten women saying fundraising influences their decision to try for a national or statewide seat.
- Candidates of color raise up to 47% less funding than their white counterparts. Similarly, women are less likely to be recruited to run, and less likely to seek office because of the perception that they will have a more difficult time raising money to campaign.
- Polls indicate citizens overwhelmingly support changes in campaign financing. Click for New York efforts.
Resources for Women in Politics
Keys to Elected Office: The Essential Guide for Women
Center for American Women in Politics
Shifting Gears: How Women Navigate the Road to Higher Office