– Path to the top. On their way to top-tier CEO positions, women often take an extra step, according to a new analysis by the Eos Foundation.
Across the S&P 500, women CEOs were 32% more likely to spend time in a role as president before being named chief executive. Citi chief Jane Fraser, Clorox CEO Linda Rendle, ADP chief Maria Black, and Otis chief Judith Marks are just a few of the women who made stops as presidents on their way to the very top.
Men, more often, skipped that step and went straight from leading a business unit to becoming CEO. Twenty-nine percent of male CEOs went from a business division job, while only 23% of female CEOs did (Accenture CEO Julie Sweet and Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin are two among them).
Seventeen percent of men went from COO to CEO while only 8% of women did (like AMD chief Lisa Su). CFO is one role that has proven to be a solid launching pad for women—10% of female CEOs were CFO directly beforehand (like Best Buy CEO Corie Barry), while only 6% of male CEOs were.
The extra step women are taking on the way to CEO “suggests that they often need to go further to prove they’re ready for the top job” says Eos Foundation president Andrea Silbert. “One possibility is that some corporate boards or CEO hiring committees perceive women as carrying additional risk and therefore want to see them serve as presidents before considering them for the CEO role,” she adds.
This analysis of the pathways women take to CEO also sheds some light on why women are less likely to put themselves forward for jobs without feeling fully qualified. “Women may actually be acting rationally,” Silbert says, “because in practice, they do need to be more qualified to advance.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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