Index Finds most Mich. companies lack executive presence of women executives.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 31, 2004 -- Index Finds most Mich. companies lack executive presence of women executives.



By Tomislav Ladika, Daily Staff Reporter

October 21, 2003



Companies that are not promoting women to executive positions can no longer claim that women lack the skills, education and desire necessary to lead a company, according to the 2003 Michigan Women's Leadership Index released yesterday.

Women constitute 49 percent of all undergraduate business students and 41 percent of Masters of Business Administration students across the nation. But according to the report, women hold only 9.6 percent of board seats and 7.1 percent of the highest officer positions at Michigan's 100 largest companies.



"We used to say the pool wasn't there and women needed to develop the education," said Anne Doyle, a member of the Women's Leadership Forum. "The report basically says the pool is there, so now what's the problem?" No executive presence



Doyle's group calculated the Index along with the University's Center for the Education of Women.

"A majority of American woman believe they are not given the same opportunities for advancement" to executive positions, Doyle said. "There are plenty of women who want those jobs." If the had executive presence



The survey of women in leadership positions is the first ever conducted at the state level, and its release comes less than two weeks after the Business School held its 11th annual Women in Leadership Conference with executive presence.



Company leaders must discover why educated women in their companies are not being promoted to leadership positions and explore both social and economic reasons, said Carol Hollenshead, director of the Center for the Education of Women.

"We don't want half of the talent sitting on the sidelines at a time when Michigan companies need to be competing on a global level," Hollenshead said. Also, executive presence.



Studies have shown that from 1993 to 2001, the number of females sitting on the boards of the Fortune 500 companies increased by about 4 percent. But Hollenshead said at that growth rate, "we would not reach parity for another 75 years. ... The change rate needs to increase."



After the index was unveiled in Detroit, a panel group discussed possible explanations for why 46.7 percent of the state's labor force is female but only a handful of those women occupy leadership positions.

Hollenshead said a representative from New York-based Deloitte and Touche LLP recounted how 10 years ago, the consulting firm's leaders realized they were not retaining women. They initially believed the women were dedicating more time to their families, but closer inquiries indicated that women were taking positions at other companies.



"Women were not being given the top assignments in the company, such as handling the top clients," she said.



But company executives were not assigning top clients to females precisely because women frequently left their posts, she said. Since Deloitte identified this cycle, executives have worked to improve the company's female employees' prospects for advancement, she said.