Pepsico boasts woman CEO, but gender equality is still elusive

Pepsico boasts woman CEO, but gender equality is still elusive

WASHINGTON – Indra Nooyi’s nomination as beverages giant PepsiCo’s CEO boosts women’s presence at the top of the US corporate ladder, but gender equality is still a very long way off.

At 50, Nooyi has been the company’s chief financial officer since 2001, but from October 1 she will replace chief executive officer Steve Reinemund. Her arrival at the highest echelon of a major US company is a big event since in 2006 only 10 women CEOs have been listed by Fortune magazine among the leaders of its list of 500 major companies.Nooyi will make number 11 in October.Catalyst, an independent research group which campaigns for women in business, recently estimated it would take 40 years before women and men share equally top management positions in the United States.And women’s advance has not been constant.Last year their number dropped to its lowest level in 10 years, reaching only 0,23 per cent of all managerial positions.”The rate of growth of women into corporate officer positions has slowed in the last three years,” said Kara Helander, Catalyst Western Regions vice president.Nooyi’s achievement “is very good news today for one individual but what it shows is that there is still a lot of work to do for opportunities for women in corporate America,” Helander told AFP.In fact, more than half the businesses on the prestigious “Fortune 500″ list had fewer than three women managers in 2005, Catalyst said.Among chief executive officers, Nooyi’s appointment will boost women’s presence in the 500 to 2,2 per cent, when women make up 46 per cent of America’s working-age population.A Madras native and graduate of the Yale School of Management, Nooyi began her business career at Motorola and other companies before arriving at PepsiCo in 1994, where in seven years she climbed to chief financial officer.In October, she will join an exclusive list of women CEOs heading top US companies that includes Patricia Woertz with grains giant Archer Daniels Midland, Anne Mulcahy at Xerox and eBay’s Meg Whitman.At an annual salary of US$33 million, she will rank 61st among the country’s best-paid CEOs.But besides the CEOs, Catalyst researchers found that companies with more women in senior positions do better business.”One of the things that struck us most from our research,” said Helander, “is that companies with a higher percentage of women in senior leading positions outperformed companies with a lower percentage, and by a significant return on equity, which is 35 per cent higher, and total return to shareholders 34 per cent higher on average.”Finally, black women in the United States face double discrimination since their percentage in managerial positions is even lower than white women’s, a mere 1,7 per cent in the Fortune 500, Catalyst said.The promotion of Nooyi, who often boasts of her ethnic background by wearing a sari, is a refreshing occurrence, said Helander.”One of the things that is quite exiting about this appointment is that it adds to the role model that women of colour now can have,” she added.Nampa-AFPHer arrival at the highest echelon of a major US company is a big event since in 2006 only 10 women CEOs have been listed by Fortune magazine among the leaders of its list of 500 major companies.Nooyi will make number 11 in October.Catalyst, an independent research group which campaigns for women in business, recently estimated it would take 40 years before women and men share equally top management positions in the United States.And women’s advance has not been constant.Last year their number dropped to its lowest level in 10 years, reaching only 0,23 per cent of all managerial positions.”The rate of growth of women into corporate officer positions has slowed in the last three years,” said Kara Helander, Catalyst Western Regions vice president.Nooyi’s achievement “is very good news today for one individual but what it shows is that there is still a lot of work to do for opportunities for women in corporate America,” Helander told AFP.In fact, more than half the businesses on the prestigious “Fortune 500″ list had fewer than three women managers in 2005, Catalyst said.Among chief executive officers, Nooyi’s appointment will boost women’s presence in the 500 to 2,2 per cent, when women make up 46 per cent of America’s working-age population.A Madras native and graduate of the Yale School of Management, Nooyi began her business career at Motorola and other companies before arriving at PepsiCo in 1994, where in seven years she climbed to chief financial officer.In October, she will join an exclusive list of women CEOs heading top US companies that includes Patricia Woertz with grains giant Archer Daniels Midland, Anne Mulcahy at Xerox and eBay’s Meg Whitman.At an annual salary of US$33 million, she will rank 61st among the country’s best-paid CEOs.But besides the CEOs, Catalyst researchers found that companies with more women in senior positions do better business.”One of the things that struck us most from our research,” said Helander, “is that companies with a higher percentage of women in senior leading positions outperformed companies with a lower percentage, and by a significant return on equity, which is 35 per cent higher, and total return to shareholders 34 per cent higher on average.”Finally, black women in the United States face double discrimination since their percentage in managerial positions is even lower than white women’s, a mere 1,7 per cent in the Fortune 500, Catalyst said.The promotion of Nooyi, who often boasts of her ethnic background by wearing a sari, is a refreshing occurrence, said Helander.”One of the things that is quite exiting about this appointment is that it adds to the role model that women of colour now can have,” she added.Nampa-AFP

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