CORPORATE AMERICA Women in top posts on the rise

Women make up about 16 percent of top-ranking executives at the country's largest companies.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Despite all the recent shocks to corporate America and the faltering economy, women continued to make inroads -- albeit incrementally -- into the upper echelons of Fortune 500 companies, a survey says.
The number of female corporate officers at Fortune 500 companies inched up 3.2 percentage points over the past two years, according to the biannual survey by Catalyst, a New York-based women's advocacy group.
"Historically, in down economies, women tend to be hit very hard. We have data showing that this has not happened, which is a surprise for many," said Sheila Wellington, president of Catalyst. "When times are bad, to maintain a competitive position, you've got to keep top talent and there's a recognition that women are in that top talent pool."
Women now make up 15.7 percent of the top-ranking executives at America's largest companies -- or 2,140 of the 13,673 total -- compared with 12.5 percent in 2000 and 8.7 percent in 1995 when Catalyst began keeping track.
"While the pace of change is steady, it is also slow," Wellington said.
Those with most clout
Women held 7.9 percent, or 191 of the 2,412 "corporate clout titles," which Catalyst defined as chief executive, chairman, vice chairman, president, chief operating officer, senior executive vice president and executive vice president. That's an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the 6.2 percent in 1997.
The number of female chief executives also increased, to six, comprising 1.2 percent of the Fortune 500 CEO population, an increase from just two women CEOs in 2000 and only one in 1995.
At 60 companies, women accounted for a quarter or more of the leadership ranks, compared with 50 companies with that percentage in 2000, according to the survey.
However, as of March 31 -- the survey's cutoff date -- 71 Fortune 500 companies had no women corporate officers. Women make up 46.6 percent of the U.S. labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"It's clearly not as fast as anyone might like to see, but it's certainly measured progress, which is positive and sustainable in the right direction," said Diana Ferguson, vice president and treasurer of Sara Lee Corp., where women made up 17.9 percent of senior officers.
"One of the things I've been pleased to see and could be helpful in [promoting more women] is companies' being willing to put people in 'stretch' assignments, in assignments that might be slightly more challenging, or give high-potential individuals stretch assignments to allow them to grow into their roles and get into the officer ranks," said Ferguson, 39, who joined Sara Lee in 2001.