Gains for Senior Women in Chicago Companies Offset by Setbacks
Lack of diversity in leadership affects bottom line

After eleven years of measuring the movement of women into the senior ranks of directors and executive officers at Chicago's 50 largest public companies, the progress continues to be uneven, with some gains offset by slippage in key areas, according to the 2008 Chicago Network Census, "Breaking Away," released today. Women board directors reached their highest percentage level ever at 15.0%, yet nearly one third of companies in the Chicago 50 have no women executive officers.

The Chicago Network, the premier organization of Chicago's women leaders, tracks the representation of women in key leadership positions - board members, executive officers and top earners - based on fiscal year 2007 proxy filings from the 50 largest publicly traded companies by revenue.

Key findings from the 2008 Census:

• Women directors increased from 14.3% from 15.0%, the highest level since The Network began tracking, and due primarily to shrinking board size.
• Six companies, up from four, have no women directors.
• Women executive officers increased 0.4% to 14.4%, after falling for two consecutive years.
• The number of companies with no women executive officers grew by four to 16
• The number of companies with no women among the top earners rose to 36, from 31.
• As the war for talent intensifies with the retirement of millions of baby boomers, the companies that understand the role diversity plays in their senior ranks - and who see the enormous potential for growing their human assets - will outperform their peers, the report said.

"In the future, companies cannot conduct business as usual," says Eva Maddox, Chicago Network Chair and Principal of Perkins & Will / Eva Maddox Branded Environments. "It's more important than ever that they use every weapon in their arsenal. Especially in these tough economic times, companies can't retrench. Those that recognize the value of having greater diversity in their senior management - and throughout the company - will be the ones with a stronger bottom line."

For the fourth consecutive year, the Census gathered data on women of color and found that the percentage of board members in Chicago has decreased, to 3.1% of directors, from 3.5% in 2007, while the number of executive officers has increased to 1.6%, from 1.3%, in 2007.

This year, the Census includes several new areas of focus:

• A look at how women are breaking away and choosing careers that offer more opportunities and rewards, including discussions with Network entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders to better understand their career choices and aspirations -- and to hear their success stories.
• Interviews with Greg Case, of Aon, and David Speer, of ITW, discussing what they are doing to increase diversity and put more women in positions of leadership.
• An interview with Cheryl Francis, leader of The Network's Women on Boards initiative, which focuses on getting more qualified women on boards and increasing awareness of this issue.
• An interview with Alice Eagly, professor at Northwestern University. Her research rejects the myth of the glass ceiling and proposes the labyrinth as a more apt metaphor - women facing challenges at many stages in their careers, and the importance of creating social capital on their own.
• "The hurdles that continue to block progress at the Chicago 50 are leading many women to seize opportunities and break away from large corporations to start their own firms, or take leadership positions at nonprofits," said Eva Losacco, Census Chair and President of Tecsolv. "Despite sometimes greater risks, there can be considerable rewards for striking out on your own."

While the overall Census results are disappointing, some companies have taken the lead in tapping women as a source of talent - and taken heed of what research repeatedly shows: greater diversity results in a stronger bottom line.

Noteworthy Company Performances:

• Three companies met or exceeded 25% representation of women on their boards: Hewitt Associates, Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and Sara Lee Corporation.
• Eight companies exceeded 25% representation of women executive officers: BaxterInternational Inc., Corn Products International, Inc., Discover Financial Services, Hewitt Associates, Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., NiSource Inc., Northern Trust Corporation and UAL Corporation.

The 2008 Census Report, including the Entrepreneurship and Nonprofit segments, can be found online at www.thechicagonetwork.org. Data collection and analysis for the Corporate Census was again conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP.