Women in business have made gains in Georgia and the U.S. But gaps persist

After years of efforts by women to work their way up the corporate ladder, there are now more women in executive leadership ranks than there were a decade ago.

Women make up about 29% of C-suite positions, up from 17% in 2015, according to a national McKinsey report on Women in the Workplace released for 2024.

In Georgia, the share of women on the boards of public companies reached a record 27% in 2024, according to an annual study by OnBoard, an Atlanta-based organization that aims to increase the number of women in executive leadership and on corporate boards.

And all of Georgia’s Fortune 500 companies had at least one woman on their board, according to the study.

“Women have absolutely been advancing,” said Kari Love, CEO of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation. “But it continues to go very slowly.”

Advocates say companies with gender parity benefit from improved decision-making, innovation and financial performance — so it’s in their interest to increase representation of women to gain a competitive advantage and boost their potential for growth.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

And while more women are entering higher-paying fields, the gender wage gap continues to widen, according to a report released March 25 by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Of the CEOs of all Fortune 500 companies, 10.4% are women, on par with 2023 levels, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Women Business Collaborative’s 2024 report.

That is of course far less than half, and there are still gaps in certain areas. Gains are also “more fragile and less extensive than they appear,” according to the McKinsey report.

Today, challenges by opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion programs are “casting a chill over DEI initiatives,” according to the Women Business Collaborative report. DEI programs often include a focus on representation of not just racial and ethnic minorities, but also women in the workforce and in management.

“There has been a loud and public backlash against DEI over the past year (funding cuts, company reassessment of internal DEI functions, public statements from major business stakeholders, etc.), but the impact may simply be that companies are less vocal about their work but are still continuing to hold the course,” the Women Business Collaborative says in its report. “While momentum across all sectors has diminished, it is not gone all together.”

Love said she thinks the pullback on public support for DEI won’t erase all of the advances she has seen.

“I think we’ve come too far, and now women are in these places of decision making, and in these C-suites,” Love said.

Progress made, challenges remain

Amid the DEI backlash, lawsuits against diversity programs, threats of penalties for organizations that have DEI programs and receive federal funds, companies have been cutting back on commitments and programs for women.

There have also been pullbacks from mentorship and sponsorship programs, according to the McKinsey survey. Those changes can affect women in the workplace.

About 57% of U.S. firms have no specific ambitions for women in senior leadership, according to auditing firm Grant Thornton’s Women in Business 2025 report. Released March 4, the report is based on interviews of senior leaders at midmarket companies conducted July-September 2024.

Yet the report says research shows that “gender balanced teams can bring better performance” — and as such, potential investors and potential new clients are pushing some companies to demonstrate their commitment to gender balance.

“A lot of men understand the importance of diversity,” Love said. “Absolutely, merit needs to be part of the conversation, and hopefully a well-run organization is looking at merit in addition to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Cynthia Good, CEO and founding editor of Little Pink Book, a digital magazine for working women, said she thinks most organizations are also “still deeply committed.”

But she also acknowledged that “we expect things to get worse before they get better.”

“No one’s picking up the bullhorn anymore and saying, ‘We stand for diversity,’ ” she said. But, “The people who’ve always been passionate about these issues are more passionate and determined than ever.”

Women of color see slow progress

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Today, men outnumber women at every level in the workforce, from entry level to management to executive positions. And women are still less likely to be hired than men, “which leaves them underrepresented from the start,” the McKinsey report said.

That contributes to what McKinsey calls a “broken rung.” For every 100 men promoted to manager, 81 women are promoted. The gap is even greater for Black and Latina women.

“Across business, we still have gaps,” said Fiona Bell, director of state government affairs for Atlanta-based aluminum company Novelis and chair of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation.

Progress has been much slower in general for women of color, who continue to be underrepresented and to “view gender and race as obstacles to their advancement,” according to the McKinsey report.

The share of women of color on corporate boards in Georgia was 6% of public company board seats in 2024, the same level as in 2023, according to OnBoard. That’s in spite of the fact that women of color make up more than 20% of the population in Georgia.

Parity a long way off

The McKinsey report estimated it will take nearly 50 years for representation of all women in senior vice president and C-suite positions to reach parity.

What is parity and why will it take so long to reach it?

It’s because “when you overlay race and ethnicity, that gap widens even more,” Love said.

In the report, parity is defined as 25% of total representation each for white women and women of color — a figure based on current representation of women in entry-level roles and an assumption of a growing pipeline in the future.

A key reason it would take so long to reach that definition of parity is because there’s a deep divide between how long it could take white women to reach parity (22 years) versus women of color (48 years).

Women-owned businesses

Entrepreneurship among women is another area of increased focus over the years.

Georgia tied as the ninth-best state for women-owned businesses in 2024, according to a Wells Fargo report.

It said the number of women-owned businesses in Georgia grew by 18.5% from 2019 to 2024.

The report credited steps taken in the state to prioritize workforce development, expand access to capital, invest in technology and support minority- and women-owned businesses.

“Notably, Georgia also ranks high in the ratio of women-owned businesses, with 1,053 women-owned businesses per 10,000 women, reflecting a vibrant and supportive environment for women entrepreneurs,” the Wells Fargo report said.

Nationally, women own 34% of all small businesses and franchises, “significantly impacting the economy,” according to the Women Business Collaborative report.

AJC Her+Story is a new series in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighting women founders, creators, executives and professionals with in-depth profiles and stories exploring important topics. AJC Her+Story is about building a community. Know someone the AJC should feature in AJC Her+Story? Email us at herstory@ajc.com with your suggestions. Check out all of our AJC Her+Story coverage at www.ajc.com/herstory.

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