Feeling the glass ceiling

Meg Whitman, president and CEO, HP

There’s no question that women are making large strides in U.S. business and technology fields. Yet here it is 2013, and only 12 of the Fortune 500 have female CEOs.

Um, that's 2%.

Numbers on the proportion of female tech startup founders are not any more encouraging. Many high-profile incubators report that women founders receive less than 5% of their annual grant awards.

Recent research from the Harvard Business Review and others suggests firms without women in high-level leadership positions are missing out on some meaningful growth opportunities. Women that excel in business often prove to have more highly developed communication skills than their male colleagues, according to the research. Women are also often more likely to take initiative and make changes to the status quo. In fact, the study showed that firms with women on their boards saw 42% higher sales returns, a 66% higher return on invested capital and a 53% higher return on equity over firms that did not.

The following brief video from Online MBA highlights the skills and perspectives  women bring to business.

What are some the special skills female leaders offer?

Communication: Firms with more women on their boards have 42% higher sales returns, 66% higher return on invested capital, and 53% higher return on equity. Take Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer who laid out a strategic outline for the declining company and watched the stock gain 5.7% closing at $16.67, its highest level in over a year.