Women have made inroads into the top leadership positions in corporate America. Today, 26 women are serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (5.2%), and 5.4% are serving as CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies.
Even more, a majority of American women are in the labor force. In 1965, 39% of women ages 16 and older were in the labor force, according to a recent Pew Research report. That share rose steadily and peaked at 60% in 1999. As of November 2015, 57% of women were in the labor force, only 12 percentage points lower than the share for men (69%). Women account for about half of the U.S. labor force (47% in November 2015).