Still Just A Tenth

A mere 10.4 percent of America's biggest companies are run by women— unchanged from last year.

ALSO IN THIS POST…

• Research shows the power of employer-subsidized childcare

• Latest on WOMEN MONEY POWER

Broken records may repeat themselves. That doesn’t mean they don’t have an important message to convey.

Last week, Fortune released its annual list of the largest corporations in the U.S, ranked by revenue. For the twelfth consecutive year, Walmart took the top spot, with Amazon, Apple, UnitedHealth Group and Berkshire Hathaway rounding out the top five. 

My key takeaway, though? The highest echelons of corporate America are yet again pale and male: Of all of the companies that made the cut, a mere 10.4 percent are run by women, and that too, was unchanged from last year.

I wrote about this year’s list for The Persistent. Here’s an excerpt:

“‘We often ask what women need to do differently, but the real question is: What can we all do to drive gender equity?’ said Jennifer McCollum, president and chief executive officer of Catalyst, a global nonprofit promoting gender equity and workplace inclusion. ‘The solution is to fix systems, not to fix women. Achieving gender equity in the C-suite requires companies to intentionally fill the leadership pipeline and create workplaces that work for women so they can advance.’

“Women’s push into the C-suite is difficult at the best of times, McCollum acknowledged. But today, progress is also thwarted by limited access for women to “sponsorship and mentorship, affordable childcare, flexibility, and access to reproductive healthcare.’ These are ‘critical for women to show up, stay in, and advance in the workplace,’ she added. None of these are guaranteed in today’s corporate world. On the contrary, many of these are under explicit threat.”

You can read the full piece here.

(Separately, also for The Persistent, I published a piece I’d been wanting to tackle for years: a deep-dive into the stereotypes and societal tropes that have shaped the trials of women wrongfully convicted of murder. Read that piece here!)

Told You So

Elsewhere last week, new research spelled out what many mothers and fathers have known for years: Working parents who have access to affordable, reliable employer-sponsored childcare are much more likely to favor coming into the office over working from home, and are also more likely to actually like their workplace and employer.

A survey of 1,800 working parents with access to employee-sponsored childcare, showed that having support made employees more likely to work longer hours in a central office and made them feel more optimistic about returning to work after the birth or adoption of a child. 

The research, conducted by the care provider Bright Horizons, also found that individuals with access to employer-sponsored care rated their employer 20 percentage points more supportive of family when compared with responses from employees whose employers didn’t provide childcare.

Earlier this year, an annual survey of over 3,000 working families, also conducted by Bright Horizons (and which I covered for Forbes at the time), found that 42% of respondents said that they were actively looking for alternative work in order to better navigate the competing demands of their careers and caring duties. That represented a rise of 4 percentage points over last year’s figure. 

Consistent with these finding, the proportion of employees who said they felt like their employer was supportive of family life had dropped by five percentage points to 72%. And 80% of women and 76% of men said that they would need to carefully consider their childcare options before accepting a promotion or embarking on a new job.

 “As business focus scans across wellbeing to productivity, and the trend for more in-person collaboration continues, the smartest employers are ensuring they prioritize family care. Those employers that remove the barriers differentiate themselves in employee experience as well as productivity,” said Jennifer Liston-Smith, head of thought leadership at Bright Horizons, in response to the most recent survey. 

“Reassuringly, we can see that by providing employees with access to meaningful and inclusive family supports, all parties can enjoy the benefits of all ways of working, including being together face-to-face,” Liston-Smith added. “Employees with access to family support report higher levels of productivity, enhanced performance and improved employee wellbeing, engagement and retention.”

WOMEN MONEY POWER: The Book

On Thursday last week I joined the Women’s Bond Club and EY for a fireside chat on all things women, money, power and book-writing. (No, there was no actual fire, but the views from the 48th floor over the whole of Manhattan more than made up for that.)

Thank you for having me, and a special thanks to Stef Coleman, a partner at EY who has become a good friend and champion of the book, for moderating.

I’ve not got any public events scheduled over the next few weeks but let me know if you think I should be talking at a specific event or conference!

In case you missed it, here’s an interview I recently did with CNBC about WOMEN MONEY POWER. And here’s a video of a recent fireside chat I did at the Groundbreaking Women Summit. 

I was also thrilled last week to see a review of WOMEN MONEY POWER in the International Monetary Fund’s publication. Here’s an excerpt:

“Beyond documenting challenges, Women Money Power offers actionable insights and strategies to advance gender equity in both the public and private spheres. Cox advocates policy reforms such as pay transparency legislation, affordable childcare, parental leave policies, and reproductive rights as crucial steps toward a more inclusive and equitable work environment. Transformative shifts are far more likely when women have equal access to opportunities and resources; ultimately, gender equality can be a source and driver of greater economic and social prosperity.”

You can read the full review here.

As ever, one final, shameless request. If you’ve read the book or listened to the audiobook, I would massively appreciate it if you could take just thirty seconds to post a review or rate it on Amazon using this link. If Goodreads is your jam, that’s just as great, and you can leave a review or rating here. Thank you so much for your support!