Leadership positions have stereotypically gone to men. But over the years, we’ve slowly seen a shift — and therein lies the problem: It’s been incredibly slow. Female CEOs are making their mark, and women are proving that they have just as much to offer as their male counterparts. In fact, they bring unique characteristics to the workplace that are, without a doubt, invaluable.

But they are still massively underrepresented.

Let’s talk about women CEOs and how many of them we’re seeing in the workforce.

Female CEOs by the Numbers

Roughly half of the world’s population is women, so you’d think we’d have more female CEOs, but the gender gap is real and significant.

In June of 2024, Fortune told us that the share of Fortune 500 companies run by women CEOs was staying flat at 10.4% — and this was a high! What’s even more interesting is that a quarter of the 52 women leaders became CEO within the last year.

In March of 2024, CEO Magazine wrote that only about 8% of CEO positions in the S&P 500 are occupied by female CEOs.

If it seems like there’s a huge CEO gender gap, there is. The numbers are astonishingly out of balance. But importantly, we have to ask ourselves why.

Why Don’t We Have More Women CEOs in the United States?

What’s causing the lack of women’s representation in CEO positions? It turns out there might be a few reasons.

According to the Harvard Business Review, women CEOs are twice as likely to be appointed from outside their organizations, compared to men, even though research shows the CEOs chosen from within perform better over time. In other words, career advancement could be more challenging with women, as companies are less likely to promote them as executives.

One study shared in the Strategic Management Journal said, startingly, that stock in a company declines after they announce a new female CEO, but this change hasn’t been found when it’s a male CEO, implying that the perception of women leaders isn’t as favorable as that of male leaders.

Furthermore, when journalists write about newly-appointed women CEOs, they reference their gender more than when they write about men. This potentially points to a fixation on gender and not experience, merit, and commitment to the company.

There’s more. A Pew survey asked US adults why they think we don’t have more women as top executives. Some of the more prominent responses were that women have to do more to prove themselves, family responsibilities make it harder for women leaders to succeed, sexual harassment makes the workplace a more challenging environment for female CEOs to thrive, many companies aren’t ready for a female CEO, and, in general, gender discrimination.

It doesn’t help that — according to the H1 2023 Global Leadership Monitor from Russell Reynolds — women leaders are more likely to underestimate their potential. As a result, it’s very possible that organizations don’t see as much potential in women leaders, and so fewer women make it to the CEO level, thereby diminishing their personal sense of potential even more. It’s a never-ending cycle that, ultimately, has led to a lack of gender diversity in the workplace.

So, there are likely at least a couple of reasons why so few women make it to the top — although it’s safe to say that none of those reasons are a lack of ability. Now, what can we do about it?

We Need More Women Leaders, But How?

How can we improve female representation in the workplace, particularly when it comes to offering them more advanced career opportunities and appointing new CEOs?

The Path to Becoming the CEO of a Company

First, we need to be a lot more intentional when it comes to career development for women and paving the way so that it’s more feasible for them to climb the ranks in the workplace. This might mean providing mentorship, identifying high performers early on, and having a specific process and strategy that not only exposes women to leadership opportunities but also helps them get there.

For example, if your business finds that women mostly occupy HR and marketing roles but rarely financial roles, why not present opportunities for these employees to try new things? This presents new challenges and experiences for women in the workplace to spread their wings, learn something different, and explore other avenues. It can help them feel more confident in their abilities and better visualize how they could keep progressing in the company.

And even if they don’t ultimately decide to go in that direction, they’ll still expand their skill set.

What Does “Success” Mean for CEOs?

Additionally, we need to reconsider what makes successful and effective leaders. For example, women have been buried under the stereotype that they’re “too emotional” to be good leaders. However, emotional intelligence is a quality that is vastly underrated. Emotional awareness helps you better relate to and understand people — this is something that all leaders need.

Ultimately, CEO roles should go to those best qualified. And to find the best potential leaders for a company, we need more level ground. Companies are doing their employees and themselves a disservice by not equally considering female candidates.

Men and women both belong in leadership roles — and that includes the sought-after title of CEO.