Forbes
By Lily Mae Lazarus
June 9, 2025
Female leaders are increasingly landing roles that traditionally serve as launchpads to the corner office. A record 11% of Fortune 500 companies are now led by women. But behind that milestone lies a more sobering truth: Women still face a steeper climb to the top, often required to take more steps and log more experience than their male counterparts to be seen as ready.
According to a 2025 Women’s Power Gap CEO Report from the Eos Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on advancing gender and racial equity in leadership, women in the S&P 100 now hold 24% of the most common “launchpad” roles for CEOs, including chief operating officer, president, and division head. Yet they account for just 8% of CEO appointments from those positions. This gap is not due to a lack of qualifications. The data shows that women are equally, if not more, capable than male CEO candidates. In fact, 32% of women CEOs took an additional step as president before being elevated to the CEO seat.
