Where Women Are Today: The Leadership Gap
While women’s status in elected office is heavily scrutinized by the media, much less attention is paid to women’s appointments. Unfortunately, women are still under-represented in these roles.
Federal Appointments
- Cabinet Level: Today, women hold 14% of federal cabinet-level appointed positions. Only 33 women have ever held cabinet-level appointed positions.
- Political Appointments: As of 2005, women held just 37% of federal political appointments overall.
- US Ranking: As of 2007, the US ranked 16 in the world for women’s representation as cabinet ministers.
State Appointments
- Cabinet Level: Women, on average, hold just 31% of state cabinet-level appointments.
- Where Women Are Represented: Women appointed to state cabinets have been concentrated in traditionally "female" areas– education, labor and health and human services health and human services. They have been least represented in corrections, military and veteran affairs and criminal justice and public safety.
- Beyond the Cabinet: Beyond the cabinet level, women are making strides: "nationally, the highest number of women exercising executive leadership in any functional area is in the somewhat nontraditional budget/finance/administration category."