Stacy Berns’ Post

We're disappointed—but not surprised—to see executive trends moving in the wrong direction. The DealmakeHers was founded to amplify the role of women in corporate leadership and has been instrumental in forging successful ventures, partnerships, corporate board positions, and deals. Clearly, there's still plenty of work to be done, according to Bloomberg columnist Beth Kowitt's insightful analysis. "S&P Global Market Intelligence now projects women won’t reach parity with men in the C-suite until 2055 at the earliest, at least five years later than previously estimated. When women do manage to claw their way to the top, they lose their jobs faster than their male counterparts. A new report from executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates found female CEOs are more than twice as likely to leave their roles within two years and four times more likely to last fewer than 12 months. The boardroom is also regressing, with women in the first quarter of 2024 filling the lowest percentage of new director positions since 2017, according to an analysis from the nonprofit 50/50 Women on Boards. The compensation divide is just as alarming. The U.S. Census Bureau of Labor Statistics released data in January that showed the gender pay gap for all working women has barely budged in a decade." Jacqueline Ardrey Kim Vernon Melissa Gonzalez Nancy Berger Kendra Bracken-Ferguson Rachel Malyan Sandra Campos Sarah Miyazawa LaFleur Sharon M. Leite Marigay McKee Phyllis Newhouse Deirdre Quinn Dawn Robertson Sandy Sholl Kecia Steelman Pocket Sun Tracey Travis Lori Wachs Janie Yu Heidi Zak https://lnkd.in/gi8DrnPh

If you have daughters, sisters, wives, partners, or professional female friends, it's paramount that you read this article from Beth Kowitt at Bloomberg (after you read it, gift it to a friend). Equity and inclusion have been rebranded as bad, and it's setting women in the workforce back further. Here are some snippets from this important article (Bloomberg enables you to read a single article for free - this is the article you should choose for that). 🚨 "DEI has not only fallen out of favor but also become the bogeyman of the business world....It’s made it OK to discriminate against women again,” says Erin Reid, a professor at McMaster University’s business school who studies gender in the workplace. 🚨 "We’ve now returned not to the status quo but to something far worse. Many companies won’t even mention the “DEI” acronym anymore on their conference calls—references to “diversity” and “inclusion” last year fell to their lowest level since 2012, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence." 🚨 "Some legal departments have cautioned their managers against talking about race or gender in their recruitment programs or even holding events for groups such as women or people of color." 🚨"Women have lost more than just C-suite jobs. Companies and their boards have once again been given permission to ignore the systemic issues that have always held women back: the glass cliff, the glass ceiling, the motherhood penalty, unconscious bias, etc. It’s not simply enough to hire women into high-powered jobs and expect them to be successful if corporate boards and company executives fail to acknowledge and address the forces undermining them." #womensupportingwomen #womenleaders

The data out there right now for women in corporate America is bleak. Some estimate women now won’t reach parity with men in the C-suite until 2055 at the earliest, at least five years later than previously estimated. When women do manage to claw their way to the top, they lose their jobs faster than their male counterparts; female CEOs are more than twice as likely to leave their roles within two years and four times more likely to last fewer than 12 months. The boardroom is also regressing, with women in the first quarter of 2024 filling the lowest percentage of new director positions since 2017. The compensation divide is just as alarming. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data in January that showed the gender pay gap for all working women has barely budged in a decade. It’s long been called the “stalled gender revolution” for a reason: Advancement has always come in fits and starts, with plenty of backslides and backlashes. And right now, progress for women in corporate America looks far more like a stall than a revolution. I dug into what's happening for my first column in Bloomberg Businessweek.

“When Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. named Rosalind Brewer chief executive officer in 2021, corporate America celebrated her appointment as a sign of just how far women in business had come. The former Starbucks Corp. and Walmart Inc. executive was a highly respected and sought-after leader whose new job put her in an exclusive club: the small but record number of female CEOs running a Fortune 500 company—and at the time, the only Black woman among them. Less than two-and-a-half years later, Brewer was out. With the company’s stock down about 50% during her tenure, the Walgreens board decided it had given her enough time to try to turn around the company. (…) Only now is it clear that Brewer’s departure was part of a worrisome trend. Her job was one of about 60 C-suite roles that women lost at companies in the S&P Global Total Market Index in 2023, marking the first time the number of female executives at the very highest level of business dropped during the almost 20-year period tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence. (…) The data out there is bleak. Because of last year’s setback, S&P Global Market Intelligence now projects women won’t reach parity with men in the C-suite until 2055 at the earliest, at least five years later than previously estimated. When women do manage to claw their way to the top, they lose their jobs faster than their male counterparts. A new report from executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates found female CEOs are more than twice as likely to leave their roles within two years and four times more likely to last fewer than 12 months. The boardroom is also regressing, with women in the first quarter of 2024 filling the lowest percentage of new director positions since 2017, according to an analysis from the nonprofit 50/50 Women on Boards. The compensation divide is just as alarming. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data in January that showed the gender pay gap for all working women has barely budged in a decade. (…) Women have lost more than just C-suite jobs. Companies and their boards have once again been given permission to ignore the systemic issues that have always held women back: the glass cliff, the glass ceiling, the motherhood penalty, unconscious bias, etc. It’s not simply enough to hire women into high-powered jobs and expect them to be successful if corporate boards and company executives fail to acknowledge and address the forces undermining them. (…) Not all companies have capitulated to the anti-woke movement. Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase & Co. continues to be one of the few CEOs who talks unapologetically about his company’s diversity efforts, this year dedicating a substantial chunk of his almost 28,000-word annual shareholder letter to laying out their importance and why they’re good for the bank’s business. It’s more than just lip service; two of his potential successors are women, despite finance being an industry that’s notoriously male and White.”

Women leaders are once again facing concerning headwinds. Last year, the number of women executives at companies in the S&P Global Total Market Index dropped, the first time that’s happened in almost 20 years of tracking. Good to talk with Bloomberg's Beth Kowitt about what's behind these setbacks and to be quoted along with my brilliant colleague Erin Reid. #womenleaders

Sound the alarm: Women won’t reach parity with men in the C-suite until 2055 at the earliest, at least five years later than previously estimated. Stories like Rosalind Brewer’s are all too common for women CEOs. Women in the C-suite often face higher turnover rates and less time to prove their worth compared to their male counterparts. Unfortunately, it gets worse; “Her job was one of about 60 C-suite roles that women lost at companies in the S&P Global Total Market Index in 2023, marking the first time the number of female executives at the very highest level of business dropped during the almost 20-year period tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence.” Out of those 60 positions that were lost, how many do you realistically think are going to be held by women? How far have we been set back? https://lnkd.in/euknyXmx  #womenCEOs #Csuite #genderparity #equality

The latest projections from S&P Global Market Intelligence paint a concerning picture for gender parity in the C-suite. According to the data, women are not expected to achieve equality with men until 2055 at the earliest, a delay of at least five years compared to previous estimates. Furthermore, the statistics reveal that women who do break through to top positions face a higher risk of job loss compared to their male counterparts. What are your thoughts on these findings and the challenges women continue to face in reaching leadership positions? #GenderParity #LeadershipEquality

In 2021, we celebrated Rosalind Brewer's appointment as the first-ever Black female CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. But her departure less than 2.5 years on underscores a worrying trend, the rapid disappearance of female leadership in high-level corporate roles. Now, with the projection that gender parity in leadership won't be achieved until 2055, and DEI initiatives under fire, the challenge is not just breaking the glass ceiling but preventing a slide back into inequality. Hence, we must actively support women leaders and push for their rightful representation at the helm of organizations. Together, let's make the 2055 forecast an artifact of history, not our future. Let’s stand up for gender parity today and always. #genderparity #deib #femaleceo https://lnkd.in/e2nBRciJ

Forbes and Statista just released a list of the top 400 American employers for women. Costco Wholesale leads the food retailers group, holding position n. 7 among the whole list. H-E-B follows at No. 11, Trader Joe's at No. 29, Wegmans Food Markets at No. 99, ALDI USA at No. 15, and Publix Super Markets at No. 133. "Women were also asked to rate their employer based on factors such as pay equity, #parentalleave policies, #leadership training programs for women, representation of women in upper #management, and employer response to incidents of discrimination. Further research was conducted into each company’s presence of women in executive management or board positions. These categories were evaluated and combined to create a final score. The 400 companies with the highest scores made the list." #futureofretail #futureofood