The share of top-earning and top-earning women at public companies in the Philadelphia area has remained largely stagnant over the past year, and parity in the top ranks remains a long way off.

That’s according to a report from the Women’s Executive Forum, which tracks the number of women who are CEOs, top earners, executives and board members in the area. The report has been published annually for over 20 years.

“We’re seeing what we’ve seen every year, which is very little or no movement, which can be difficult to motivate,” Meghan Pierce, the Forum’s president and CEO, said in an interview.

As of last year, public companies in the region still have one more female CEO – four in total.

The share of management positions held by women increased slightly, from 27% to 28%. The share of top earners who are women increased by two percentage points to 17%.

The percentage of directors who are women has not changed at all.

“We really need to think about what are the economic security policies that help women stay in the workforce. Women in leadership, not rising to the top, equal pay — this stuff doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Pierce said. “There are policies that can be implemented that contribute to a level playing field for women.”

The report looked at the 100 largest public companies in the region, using data from their filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Despite poor progress last year, women have seen gains in workplace leadership in the Philadelphia region over the past 10 years, Pierce noted. The total number of women on boards has doubled and fewer companies have no women in leadership.

“While I’m not incredibly excited about this year’s growth, it’s always helpful to look at the grand scheme of things,” Pierce said.

More female CEOs

This year’s additions to the short list of area CEOs who are women are Denise Dignam of The Chemours Company, which makes chemicals, and Carole Ben-Maimon of Larimar Therapeutics, a biotech company.

They join Susan Hardwick of American Water Works Co., a Camden-based water utility, and Ellen Cooper of Lincoln National Corp., which provides insurance and retirement planning.

Elizabeth Burr, who was named interim CEO of Rite Aid Corp. in January 2023fell off the list when Jeffrey Stein was named CEO in October 2023. When Rite Aid out of bankruptcy in September, former CFO Matt Schroeder became CEO. Rite Aid also became a private company when it emerged from bankruptcy, so even if it has a female CEO in the future she would no longer be on the Forum’s list.

Slow change on boards

Of the region’s top 100 public companies, three had no women on their boards in 2023. They were AMREP Corp., a real estate development firm based in Havertown, inTEST Corp., a technology company based in Mount Laurel, and Omega. Flex, a hose and pipe manufacturer from Exton.

This is one area where change has been clear over the past decade — in 2013, 35 of Philadelphia’s public companies had no women on their boards.

Open board seats are still more frequently going to men: 36% of open board seats went to women in the past year, down from a high of 39% in 2019.

The best income and the way forward

Women still make up less than one in five top earners at Philly’s public companies, and about one in five CEOs are women.

Still, this shows progress over the decade. Women made up 10% of top earners and 14% of executives in 2013.

In the report, Marianne Fray, CEO of the Maternity Care Coalition, notes the importance of affordable childcare, comprehensive maternity benefits and paid family leave to achieve parity.

Pennsylvania does not currently have one paid family leave program, Pierce noted. Policy and legislation could also be used to help mitigate payment secrecy at companies, she said.

“We can call on individual companies to do this work, but I think until we have legislation at the city, state and federal level, we’re not going to see a big jump or change in these areas that we’re measuring.” Pierce said, speaking just days after the presidential election. The election results show that women are not a “monolithic voting block,” she said.

The the Associated Press reports that 53% of white women voted for former President Donald Trump, while only 10% of black women did and 39% of Latino women did.

“We have a diversity of experiences and priorities that will impact who we vote for and what we prioritize in terms of policies and candidates,” Pierce said.

At an event Tuesday to launch the Forum’s report, Pierce noted the “incredibly challenging political climate we’re in.”

“We have different priorities and policies that matter to us,” Pierce said, referring to the diversity of the Forum’s more than 600 members. “However, we are united in this room under a common mission and values. We all believe in empowering women in their workplaces, at home and in their communities.”