AAUW Dialog

For generations of women, AAUW has been a leading voice on critical issues like pay equity and work-life balance. AAUW is proud to elevate the discussion of women breaking through barriers in the workplace by sharing our member benefit partner, DiversityInc’s Top 10 Companies for Executive Women.

DiversityInc’s mission is to bring education and clarity to the business benefits of diversity. After 10 years studying why some corporate cultures have stronger track records promoting and retaining women executives, DiversityInc recently presented its first Top 10 listing with that focus.

The companies that made the list share important characteristics, including above-average representation of women on boards of directors and in senior management, higher rates of providing child care, and greater flexibility regarding working at home and telecommuting. These companies stand out among their peers for ensuring a better environment for women in the workplace and serving as examples of new ways to think about work.

The following list of DiversityInc’s Top 10 Companies for Executive Women, which includes a highlight about each company, is taken from the publication’s website.

1. Sodexho — The top-rated company this year, Sodexo has a world-class mentoring program and extremely strong employee groups. Also, one-third of its board of directors is comprised of women.
2. PricewaterhouseCoopers — PwC is one of the best companies for work-life benefits. Its “Mentor Moms” program is an example of how innovative and nurturing this company is—and how it retains top women talent. PwC presented an overview of this program at Diversity Inc.’s recent work-life webinar.
3. Johnson & Johnson — This company also has world-class work-life benefits, including childcare resources and referrals, resources for parenting and grand-parenting, a “Raising a Child with Special Needs” tool kit and resources, teen driving resources, a health-risk assessment, and on-site fitness centers and exercise rooms at more than 26 affiliates in the United States.
4. Kaiser Permanente — The numbers tell the story at this amazing company. The board of directors is 35.7 percent women; 31.6 percent of top-level management (CEO and direct reports) are women; and 71.6 percent of the top 10 percent of highest-paid employees are women.
5. Health Care Service Corp.— With a woman president and CEO (Patricia Hemingway Hall), the insurance company offers strong programs that benefit women, including lactation programs and alternative career tracks for employees with long-term family concerns.
6. Marriott International— The hospitality company’s benefits include infertility testing and consultations for help and education on parenting, childcare, and financial and legal concerns, plus child care and elder care discount directories.
7. Abbott — Almost 50 percent of promotions in management went to women at this pharmaceutical company, which also has strong work-life benefits and employee-resource groups.
8. Comerica — Fifty-five percent of managers are women, and women are 35.7 percent of the most senior executives (CEO and direct reports).
9. Bank of America — All the company’s managers participate in its mentoring program. The bank also has excellent benefits, including on-site child-development centers, child and elder care locator services, and parental leave.
10. Ernst & Young — The firm has remarkable talent-development programs for executive women—among the best we’ve seen. Almost 50 percent of promotions in management go to women.

Read the full article on DiversityInc.com.

For additional information about this and other DiversityInc company rankings, visit DiversityInc.com.

Through AAUW’s member benefit partnership with DiversityInc, AAUW members are eligible for a free subscription to DiversityInc magazine.

This post is by Cordy Galligan, Director of Corporate Relationships at AAUW.