Why Do YOU Think There Are So Few Women At Senior Levels of Management in Corporate America?

 Yesterday I attended the Women's Leadership Breakfast sponsored by The Executive Club of Chicago.  Over 900 (of my new closest friends) were there, men and women. Giselle Riba DiSpigno from IBM, Sherilyn Weaver of Caterpillar, and Homa Sabet Tavangar , author of "Growing Up Global" were on a panel facilitated by Karen Jordan,  of ABC-7 Chicago.  I felt most connected to Sherilyn.  She told the story of the Penguin and the Peacock (see trailer at http://www.crmlearning.com/a-peacock-in-the-land-of-penguins).

We were able to submit questions to the panel. The question I submitted was, "How many women are in senior level management positions for CAT, and is there a plan in place to increase that number in the future?"  Sherilyn responded that there were 33 top level executives at  CAT; three are women.Two of the women were appointed within a year of each other. They've both been VP's now since 2007. Of course Caterpillar is not isolated in this circumstance. So my question to you is this, why do YOU believe that there are so few women at senior levels of management in corporate America?

For more information on the acceleration of women in business go to http://maureenobrienspeaks.com