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How many times are we going to write about this and never get a solution?

14 percent: Why are women under represented in the C-suites of corporate America?

Four decades after the feminist revolution, why are there so few women at the top of big companies across America ...

And yet, this is why we started this blog:

More women have started their own businesses. Data this year from U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners shows that, over the past 15 years, the number of women-owned companies nationwide has grown 54 percent compared with 37 percent growth in the number of businesses overall.

Read the entire article:

14 Percent:  Why Are Women Under Represented in the C-Suites of Corporate America?

Illustration credit:  Catalyst

Cracking Corporate America's Glass Ceiling

As women struggle to crack corporate America's glass ceiling, they may find more success with running their own business or in this particular case, in breaking the job barrier from the top down, a study said this week.

The more women on a company's board of directors, the more women are likely to be among that company's senior management, according to the study by Catalyst, a nonprofit organization that researches and helps promote women in business.

Read about it here.

Separately but related to women who have not escaped from corporate America yet have done a magnificent job, I want to make sure everyone caught that Shelly Lazarus is stepping down as CEO of Ogilvy & Mather. Another great woman departs (retires) from the top echelons of business.

How To Get A Better Handle On Your Customer Base?

If you're a BIG company, put more women on your board! Why? Because your company will perform better. Read more here.

A Little Shame Goes A Long Way

Should Catalyst go back to naming companies without women at the top?

Apparently Diane Brady at BusinessWeek thinks so and she does a great job convincing us why in this provocative commentary.

See you what you think and let me know.

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 49
Diana, Princess of Wales

Don't call me an icon. I'm just a mother trying to help. ~ Princess Diana

Read my lips: There IS a glass ceiling ...

... and it will take more than a hammer to bust through it.

Two spectacular commentaries penned by a colleague of mine, Judith Dobrzynski. I absolutely love her style. She hits you right between the eyes and doesn't flinch. A great wake-up call to the world.

Return of the 'glass ceiling' (LATimes 3/17)

YOU HAVE TO hand it to Catalyst, the women's research and advocacy outfit. It always manages to see a few rays of light in a field of gloom. Next week, Catalyst will host a big, fancy dinner in New York to honor companies with successful initiatives to advance women in corporate America. In the 21st century, you might think, it shouldn't be hard to find lots of companies to applaud for expanding opportunities for women. Think again.

Read more here.

Female CEOs still rare sight (Chicago Trib 3/28)

For women of the corporation, the news from around Chicago has seemed pretty good of late. After taking a few years off, Brenda Barnes easily moved back into the executive suite in 2005, becoming chairman and chief executive at Sara Lee Corp. in Downers Grove; last June, Irene Rosenfeld left Frito-Lay to take the CEO title at Kraft Foods Inc. in Northfield; and, two months earlier, Patricia A. Woertz leapt from Chevron Corp. into the top job at Archer Daniels Midland Co. in Decatur, Ill.

Considering that there are just about a dozen women at the top of the entire Fortune 500, Chicago seemed like a place where women had a good chance of climbing high on the corporate ladder.

Read more here.

Separately and from the book "Women Who Changed The World:"

Chapter 45
Billie Jean King

Ever since that day when I was 11 years old, and I wasn't allowed in a photo because I wasn't wearing a skirt, I knew I wanted to change the sport. ~ Billie Jean King