OMAHA, Neb., Oct. 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Women hold only one out of seven CEO positions and one-fifth of executive jobs in the United States overall, according to a comprehensive analysis of nationwide business data conducted by Infogroup Targeting Solutions.
The study of more than 800,000 corporate leadership positions found that 20 percent of C-suite, president and vice president roles at American firms are filled by women. By analyzing business records in its Data Axle™ database, Infogroup Targeting Solutions discovered that female executives are particularly rare at the very top of organizations: Only 14 percent of CEOs and 12 percent of company presidents are women.
While most positions are dominated by men, female executives make up the majority in two jobs: chief administrative officer (55 percent) and executive director (51 percent), which is commonly the top spot at non-profit organizations. Women are also better represented in the chief marketing officer position, with more than a third of CMOs (34 percent) being female executives.
Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software and an advocate for women in business, said that the data proves women are still subject to traditional gender roles within the C-suite.
"Especially at the top, the glass ceiling certainly still exists," said Parsons. "Too many talented female executives are winning consolation prizes when they should be leading companies. Even the executive positions largely held by women still reinforce old stereotypes."
Infogroup Targeting Solutions found that women hold less than a quarter of U.S. executive titles for most positions:
- Only 17 percent of chief operating officer (COO), chief information officer (CIO) and chief technology officer (CTO) roles are filled by female executives.
- One out of five (21 percent) executive vice presidents, senior vice presidents or vice presidents is a woman.
- Women make up 22 percent of chief financial officer (CFO) positions.
To conduct its analysis, Infogroup Targeting Solutions used its Data AxleTM to pull business records on U.S. firms with 10 or more employees and specific executive titles. The company then applied its gender filter to the contact information for those executive positions to determine the percentage of roles held by women. The real-time database includes information on more than 21 million businesses nationwide.
"The granularity of the information in the Data AxleTM is unmatched," said David McRae, president of Infogroup Targeting Solutions. "Every day, our research team verifies thousands of rich data points about businesses across the country that offer tremendous value to sales and marketing teams."
For more information on Infogroup's Data Axle technology, visit http://www.infogroup.com/data/data-axle.
About Infogroup Targeting Solutions
Infogroup Targeting Solutions helps companies increase sales and customer loyalty through analytically driven consumer and business data and database marketing solutions. With exclusive access to the Data Axle™, we build multichannel solutions using contextually relevant information on 235MM individuals and 21MM businesses. For more information, visit www.infogrouptargeting.com.