Some of the world’s most powerful women face daunting tasks as they ascend the corporate ladder.
I don’t buy the notion that the world would be better if run by women. As Madeleine Albright said, anyone who believes that “has forgotten high school.”
But as a student of economics (more on that in a moment), I do think something is seriously awry in the way we treat female talent. Women occupy the majority of spots at elite colleges and universities and get snapped up for prime jobs on graduation. Yet at each step up the corporate ladder, their relative presence shrinks. At the top, only 24 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women—less than 5%. Clearly not an optimal economic outcome.