There’s been a massive push to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
However, it appears corporate America still has a ways to go, particularly when it comes to diverse representation in corporate leadership roles. In 2021, only 8.2% of Fortune 500 CEOs were female. Of those females, 85% of them were white.
This graphic by Zainab Ayodimeji highlights the current state of diversity in corporate America, reminding us that there are still significant gender and racial gaps.
Five Decades of Fortune 500 CEOs
Since 1955, Fortune Magazine has released its annual Fortune 500 list that ranks the 500 largest U.S. companies, ranked by total revenue earned each fiscal year.
For the first 17 years of its publication, there were no female CEOs on the Fortune 500. Then in 1972, Katharine Graham became CEO of the Washington Post, making her the first-ever female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Following Graham, a few other women joined the ranks, such as Marion Sandler, co-CEO of Golden West Financial Corporation, and Linda Wachner, CEO of Warnaco Group. But apart from those few outliers, Fortune 500 CEOs remained almost exclusively male for the next few decades.
At the turn of the millennium, things started to change. Women-led companies started to appear more frequently on the Fortune 500. Here’s a breakdown that shows the number of women CEOs on the list, from 1999 to 2021:
| Year | Fortune 500 # of Women CEOs | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2 | 0.4% |
| 2000 | 2 | 0.4% |
| 2001 | 3 | 0.6% |
| 2002 | 7 | 1.4% |
| 2003 | 7 | 1.4% |
| 2004 | 8 | 1.6% |
| 2005 | 9 | 1.8% |
| 2006 | 10 | 2.0% |
| 2007 | 13 | 2.6% |
| 2008 | 12 | 2.4% |
| 2009 | 15 | 3.0% |
| 2010 | 15 | 3.0% |
| 2011 | 12 | 2.4% |
| 2012 | 18 | 3.6% |
| 2013 | 20 | 4.0% |
| 2014 | 24 | 4.8% |
| 2015 | 24 | 4.8% |
| 2016 | 21 | 4.2% |
| 2017 | 32 | 6.4% |
| 2018 | 24 | 4.8% |
| 2019 | 33 | 6.6% |
| 2020 | 39 | 7.8% |
| 2021 | 41 | 8.2% |
Slowly, women of color started to appear on the list as well. In 1999, Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon, became the first East Asian female CEO in the Fortune 500. And in 2009, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns was the first Black woman to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
By 2021, 41 of the Fortune 500 companies were led by women—8.2% of the overall list.
While this increasing total is a clear trend, it’s important to note that women make up nearly 50% of the global population, meaning genders are still not equally represented in corporate leadership.
The Financial Benefits of Diverse Workplaces
Along with the number of societal and cultural benefits that come with a diverse workplace, research indicates that diversity can also be financially beneficial to corporations, and enhance a company’s bottom line.
A study by the Council of Foreign Relations found that gender equality in the workforce could add up to $28 trillion in global GDP.
According to the Council of Foreign Relations, a number of policy changes are needed to help close the gender gap in the workforce, such as legislation to promote women’s access to capital and financial services, or tax credits for childcare support.
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