Dive Brief:
- The Estée Lauder Companies took the No. 1 slot on Forbes magazine’s 2019 list of America's Best Employers for Women. Rounding out the top 10 employers were Ulta Beauty, University of Utah, Hallmark Cards, Principal Financial Group, Unilever, Best Buy, Keller Williams Realty, Cincinnati Children’s and Harvard University.
- Forbes noted that while women are 56% of college students and hold 48% of entry-level jobs, they still account for only 23% of the C-suite.
- Forbes commissioned the market research company Statista to compile the list of companies from a survey of 60,000 working Americans, 40,000 of which were women, on the employers they liked best. The list is made up of large companies with at least 1,000 employees.
Dive Insight:
Despite advancements in the work lives of women, they continue to be underrepresented in top leadership roles. Diversity and inclusion initiatives, mentorship and sponsorship programs, efforts to end gender-based disparity, and extended paid leave are examples of progress, but data indicates there is still work to be done.
Research suggests employers could play a role in helping more women make it to C-suite, including by encouraging women to take more career risks. Comparatively few women end up in profit and loss (P&L) jobs, a common rung on the ladder to top positions; according to research from the Working Mother Research Institute, only 15% of women received information on career paths that would lead to P&L roles, compared to nearly half of men.
Earlier this year, Pariveda Solutions, an employee-owned business, won the top spot on Fairygodboss’s list of Best Companies for Women in 2019 because it offered a mentorship program, an Esprit de Femme program for women to share and discuss new ideas, clear career advancement and pay transparency. Fairygodboss co-founder and CEO, Georgene Huang, said in a press release that her company’s research found a direct correlation between women’s job satisfaction and the level of equality they experience on the job.