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Where are the women?
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Half of California's 400 largest public companies have no women in top executive offices, according to a study reported today by University of California, Davis, researchers. Almost half do not have a woman on the board of directors. Nearly a third -- including household names McAfee, Quicksilver and Hansen Natural -- do not have a woman in either a top executive post or on the governing board.

The fourth annual UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders found that only 13 of California's 400 largest public companies have a woman CEO. Overall, women hold just 10.9 percent of board seats and executive positions -- insignificant progress from 2007, when the figure was 10.4 percent, and from 2006 and 2005, when it was 10.2 percent.

"Time and time again, studies prove that businesses with women in leadership positions thrive. In our current economic situation, California's companies can't afford to ignore the talents of women," said Rosario Marin, secretary of the California State and Consumer Services Agency and a former U.S. treasurer. "It's time to stop focusing on our women leaders' pantsuits or hairstyles and start placing value on how these women are making their companies more efficient and effective -- and get that leadership in place at companies across our state."

Marin spoke at a morning press conference at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management's Working Professional MBA Program campus in Sacramento, where the results were announced.

"We have more prominent women political leaders in California than ever before, but the proportion of women business leaders in this state has barely budged," said Nicole Woolsey Biggart, dean of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. "The situation must change. At this critical time, our largest corporations can no longer afford to ignore the talents, skills and perspectives of half our population."

Wendy Beecham, CEO of the Palo Alto-based Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives, called on corporations to select highly qualified women for their open positions.

"This year's results continue to bring to light the substantial issue of the lack of women leaders in top executive positions and in board roles in the United States, and raise awareness for CEOs to change this picture." Beecham said.

FWE&E, a partner in the annual UC Davis study, will host "UC Davis Census -- Women in Corporate Leadership: Action Plan for Change" from 8 to 10 a.m. tomorrow at 1065 La Avenida, Building I, in Mountain View. The meeting is open to the news media. For more information, visit http://www.fweande.org.

For the second year in a row, the No. 1 company was Nara Bancorp Inc., a Los Angeles-based firm that serves consumers and minority-owned businesses through 21 branches in California, New Jersey and New York. Half of the firm's executive and board seats are held by women.

"Top talent and diversity go hand-in-hand, and makes us a stronger company," said Min Kim, president and CEO of Nara Bancorp. "We believe a passion for one's job, a desire to learn and lead, and a commitment to work/life balance will always win."

Joining Nara Bancorp in the top five were Bare Escentuals, headquartered in San Francisco, with women in 45.5 percent of top leadership posts; Bebe Stores, headquartered in Brisbane, with women in 42.9 percent of top leadership posts; AMN Healthcare Services, based in San Diego, with women at 36.4 percent; and Hot Topic, based in City of Industry, at 36 percent.

Since 2006, UC Davis researchers have used Standard & Poor's data to identify the top 400 companies headquartered in California by net revenue. The researchers then compile information about the firms' top executives and directors from the companies' proxy statements, annual reports and current reports. This year's study is based on reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008. UC Davis management professor Donald Palmer led the research. Students from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management's Women in Leadership group provided the bulk of the data collection.

In determining top executives, Palmer and his research team relied on companies' own listings of their executive team members on their SEC reports. Typically, companies list the CEO or president, chief financial officer, chief information officer and chief operating officer as executive team members on the reports. Some companies also include corporate counsel, the head of human relations and executive vice presidents.

The first study, in 2005, included 200 companies and used a slightly different methodology for determining top executives. Instead of relying on companies' self-described executive teams, the researchers looked at the five highest-paid executives listed in each firm's SEC reports.

Eleven other institutions and organizations nationwide publish similar annual studies on the status of women in public companies, all under the auspices of the InterOrganization Network, based in Fort Washington, Penn.

The 2008 UC Davis study and other information, including data by county, are available at http://www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/census.

Other findings from the study:

Women in top executive suites

• The percentage of companies with a female CEO has remained stuck at 3 percent since 2005.
• Overall, only 12 percent, or 334, of the 2,782 senior executive officers in California's largest 400 public firms are women, up slightly from 11.6 percent in 2007 and 11.7 percent in 2006. Women held 8.2 percent of the highest-paid executive posts at the 200 firms studied in 2005.
• It's lonely at the top. Of the 206 companies that have women in top management, only 61 have two women on the executive team (executive teams average seven members). Only 26 companies have three or more.

Women on boards

• Companies took minimal advantage of opportunities to add women to boards. Between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008, 173 companies added 313 new directors; 47 (15 percent) were women.
• Overall, women occupied 10 percent, or 328, of 3,280 board seats, up from 9.4 percent in 2007 and 8.8 percent in 2006. In 2005, when 200 companies were studied, women occupied 11.4 percent of board seats.
• Of the 213 companies with women board members, just 66 have two women directors. Only 22 have three or more.

Best and worst jobs and sectors for women

• More women hold the chief financial officer position than any other power job, and the financial sector has more women executive officers than any other sector. At the 35 companies in the finance sector, almost one in five executives (17.5 percent) is female. In the electronics industry, the number is 2.4 percent.
• The pharmaceutical and media sectors have the highest concentrations of women in board seats.
• The semiconductor industry remains an old-boy bastion. More than two-thirds of the firms (69 percent) have men-only boards, and 65 percent are run by all-male executive teams.
• All-male boards also predominate in the telecommunications and consumer products sectors, and men-only executive teams predominate in the electronics, real estate, telecommunications, industrial, and food and leisure sectors.

Factors associated with gender equity

• Women leaders foster gender equity. Only one firm with a female CEO failed to rank in this year's list of the top 25 companies.
• Size matters. Overall, the largest companies (firms with over $5 billion in revenue) have larger boards and almost three times as many women directors as the smallest companies (firms with less than $200 million in revenue).
• Of California's 10 Fortune 100 companies, all have at least one woman director. Only two -- Chevron and Intel -- have no women on their executive teams.

Founded in 1993, FWE&E describes itself as definitive community in the Bay Area for accomplished women thought leaders and decision makers. The organization connects more than 500 exceptional women leaders with people and ideas to enhance businesses, communities and the world.

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management, established in 1981, provides management education to more than 500 MBA students on the Davis campus, in Sacramento and in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among its many national rankings, the school has been recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the top 10 business schools providing the greatest opportunity for women. For more information, visit: http://www.gsm.ucdavis.edu.