About the Women's Leadership Index
Background
The Michigan Women’s
Leadership Index (WLI) is a data-based instrument used to measure
the number of women executives in the highest leadership positions
of the top 100 publicly-held companies (Index 100) headquartered
in Michigan. The purpose of the initial study, which was commissioned
by the Women’s Leadership Forum and executed by the University
of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women, was to assess
the leadership status of women in Michigan businesses and to provide
a baseline against which changes over time could be compared. The Index was first reported and developed in 2003.
The 2005 Michigan Women’s Leadership Index is the first
follow-up study. It was commissioned by the same organization, now
known as Inforum Center for Leadership and it was executed by Michigan
State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social
Research.
The Value
For nearly three decades, women have made up over 40% of
the national workforce. In Michigan, the number is even higher:
46.7% of the workforce are women and they hold one-third of the
managerial, executive, and professional positions. Yet, as the report
indicates, women’s participation at the pinnacle of Michigan’s
workforce hierarchy is still a rarity. We all know that information
is power. In the hands of enlightened leaders and educators, ambitious
women, and companies seeking new insights, the Women’s Leadership
Index provides a one-of-a-kind look at Michigan’s current
environment for high-potential women.
Definition of Index 100 by Size
While the Michigan Index 100 includes some giants, the
majority of companies are not characterized in this way. The Index
differentiates companies by market capitalization or total sale
price:
- GROUP I: Fortune 500 Companies (20)
- GROUP II: Market capitalization greater than $100 million (54)
- GROUP III: Market capitalization below $100M, but still in the
top 100 (26)
About Inforum & Inforum
Center for Leadership
 Inforum (formerly the Women’s Economic Club) is one of the
largest and most prestigious business forums in the nation, with
over 2,000 members from a broad cross-section of Michigan’s
business community. Providing opportunities for businesswomen to
connect forge alliances, discuss vital civic and business issues,
and advance as leaders is at the heart of Inforum’s mission.
Inforum’s programming includes networking events featuring
prominent local, national, and international speakers; interactive
skill-building seminars; and a variety of after-hours interest groups.
Inforum Center for Leadership (formerly the Women’s
Leadership Forum)
accelerates careers through unique leadership development programs
that allow women to challenge themselves, take risks, and reach
the next level. Current programs include: Executive Leadership,
an intense, highly personalized and interactive six-month leadership
development program; Leading Together: A Strategic Learning Lab,
which allows participants to experience real-world business challenges
without the real-world consequences for failure; and the Senior
Executives Forum, a confidential, peer-to-peer business roundtable
for top women executives. Inforum Center for Leadership also conducts
and publishes research. Inforum Center for Leadership may be found
on the worldwide web: www.inforummichigan.org.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon Comments
"Leadership is about ideas and about the capacity to translate
ideas into action. But it’s also about understanding the responsibility
you have to others for those ideas. Higher education really has
a special role to play in building the next generation of leaders.
And part of the issue of women, in particular, being in visible
leadership positions is that it permits others to see that they
can do these things too. That’s one of the things I like about
being president of Michigan State."
"I was at a meeting in Detroit where we were awarding the Broad
Fellowships to students, and I made a comment about being a first-generation
college student myself. One of the mothers there nudged her daughter
and said something like, 'Look, that could be you someday.' That
had an impact on me; it reminded me that our students come here
with dreams, and that a big part of our responsibility is to help
them to dream even bigger dreams by the example we set."
Women’s Leadership Index in the
News
Original News Release – MSU Newsroom
Wage
gap follows women beyond the glass ceiling
Women’s Leadership Index was talked about around the world
when it was released on October 23, 2005. Over 120 media reports,
including radio, television, print, and the web helped to call people’s
attention to the research results.
Radio Discussion - News/Talk 760 WJR - The Paul W. Smith Show
Survey Shows Men Firmly Controlling Michigan’s Biggest Companies
Sprint-Nextel Senior Vice-President Judith Muhlberg and MSU Research
Specialist Nathaniel Ehrlich discussed the 2005 Michigan Women’s
Leadership Index with Paul W. Smith. The survey shows that top women
are still being shafted at the top, with no progress being made
in the number of top women executives or their compensation. They
advised women to be more aggressive when it comes to comparable
compensation and leadership opportunities.
Radio Discussion - Michigan Radio Network - The Jack Lessenberry
Show
Listen
to Program Now
For years, women have been trying to break through the glass ceiling.
But what happens when they get there. A new study finds that women
executives earn less than half as men in the same position. Why
is this happening?
Jack talks with Nat Ehrlich, a Research Specialist at the MSU Institute
for Public Policy who authored the 2005 Michigan Women's Leadership
Index and Terry Barclay who is the President and CEO of Inforum
which commissioned the study.
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