Womens share of executive jobs falls for first time in years, study finds [Video]

Women’s share of coveted executive roles dropped in 2023 for the first time in nearly two decades, according to a recently published report from researchers who see it as possibly an “alarming turning point” in the path toward gender parity in corporate America.

Female executives lost roughly 60 “C-suite” roles last year, a reversal after several years of slow but persistent growth, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Women now claim 11.8% of 15,000 chief executives, financial officers and other top roles at publicly traded U.S. companies, down from 12.2% the previous year, S&P said. It’s the first decline in that percentage since S&P started tracking this data in 2006.

“The growth in women’s representation among senior corporate positions, once a bright spot for gender parity, potentially faces an alarming turning point,” the report’s authors wrote. The change of trend is “surprising,” after a major surge in women’s C-suite representation in 2022, they noted.

“Growth …