Women In Business: Breaking News And Breaking Records

As 2021 is wrapping up, it’s exciting to look at some of the 2021 accomplishments in the business world. Specifically, it’s crucial to look at the ones made by women because business overall continues to be male-dominated. Female Fortune 500 CEOs broke THREE (3!) all-time records this year.

First, the number of women CEOs on the Fortune 500 has increased to 41, which is an all-time high. Additionally, for the first time in history, there are two Black women CEOs on the list, with Roz Brewer leading Walgreens Boots Alliance and Thasunda Brown Duckett leading TIAA. These changes and future developments are both great opportunities for intersectional diversity to become more pervasive within the list in future years.

Finally, Karen Lynch has made history by being the woman CEO of the fourth-highest ranked business on the list by leading CVS Health.

These are incredible statistics because they are showing progress with increased diversity in the corporate landscape. At the same time, having 41 women Fortune 500 CEOs indicates that there are 459 men CEOs, making the percentage of women a mere 8.1%. Prior to Roz Brewer and Thasunda Brown Duckett taking their roles as Fortune 500 CEOs, the only other Black woman to run a Fortune 500 business with a permanent position was Ursula Burns.

If you look at the chart below, you can see the gender distribution of the Fortune 500 CEOs from two decades ago to now. While there is an improvement with female representation, it is slow and still far from equal. To read more about the three records broken discussed, read this article!

 

By Alina Minkova
Alina Minkova Creative Blog Curator