Fifty years after the feminist wake-up call, why are women still so vastly outnumbered in key leadership roles in business? Women make up 49 percent of the U.S. workforce, but they account for only 4 percent of corporate CEOs, 14 percent of executive officers, and 20 percent of America's government officials.
This poor showing is despite evidence that some people perceive women as better leaders than men. In separate recent studies by INSEAD and Zenger-Folkman, women outscored men in many categories of leadership. In their study, Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman found that at every level, women were rated by their peers, bosses, direct reports, and other associates as better overall leaders than their male counterparts—and the higher the level, the wider the gap.
What is standing in the way?
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Anne-Marie Slaughter, president of the New America Foundation, recently have reanimated the balance-of-power debate by pointing out some hard truths. Sandberg's book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, charges women to take more initiative in getting what they want. Because they don't, she argues, "Men still rule the world.