Women make up at least half of the workforce. Yet that 50/50 ratio doesn't hold true in corporate boardrooms.
This gender disparity is only hurting the companies themselves as studies have shown that Fortune 500 companies with the highest percentage of women board directors financially outperform companies with the lowest percentage.
According to nonprofit organization Catalyst, companies with the highest percentage of women board directors bring in 42% more in sales and 53% more in return on equity than companies that have the least representation of women on their boards.
Terry J. Lundgren, CEO of Macy's, Inc., said closing the gender gap must first start from leadership at the top.
"[CEOs] can do more to promote the females executives in [their] company as candidates," Lundgren said at a recent gathering of the Women's Forum of New York at the New York Stock Exchange. "[CEOs] have relationships where we connect and we have this opportunity to be the advocates." Macy's is one of the small handful of companies that have at least 40% of women represented on their board.
Deanna M. Mulligan, CEO of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, spoke on a panel at the Women's Forum and she discussed the graveness of not having enough women voices represented in the corporate world.
"We put a man on the moon," she said. "We should be able to put women on boards."
Below are seven Fortune 500 companies with at least 40% of women represented in their boardrooms.
Avon Products, Inc.
Six out of the 10 board members at Avon are women.
Sheri McÇoy, CEO of Avon Products, Inc. McCoy has been a director since 2012.
V. Ann Hailey, president and CEO of Famous Yard Sales, Inc. Hailey has been a director since 2008.
Nancy Killefer, former senior partner of McKinsey & Company where she retired from in August 2013. Killefer has been a director since 2013.
Maria Elena Lagomasino, CEO of WE Family Services. Lagomasino has been a director since 2000.
Ann S. Moore, former CEO of Time Inc. Moore has been a director since 1993.
Paula Stern, Ph.D, chairwoman at The Stern Group, Inc. Stern has been a director since 1997.
The Estee Lauder Companies
Seven out of the 15 board members at the Estee Lauder companies are women.
Charlene Barshefsky, senior international partner at WilmerHale. Barshefsky has been a director since 2001.
Rose Marie Bravo, CBE of retail and marketing consultant. Bravo has been a director since 2003.
Wei Sun Christianson, managing director of co-CEO of Asia Pacific and CEO of China at Morgan Stanley. Christianson has been a director since 2011.
Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments, LLC. Hobson has been a director since 2005.
Aerin Lauder, creative director and chairman of Aerin LLC. Aerin has been a director since 2004.
Jane Lauder, global president and general manager of Origins, Ojon and Darphin brands. Jane has been a director since 2009.
Lynn Forester de Rothschild, CEO of E L Rothschild LLC. Rothschild has been a director since 2000.
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc.
Four out of the nine board members at the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. are women.
Jocelyn Carter-Miller, president of TechEdVentures. Carter-Miller has been a director since 2007.
Jill M. Considine, chairman of Butterfield Fulcrum Group Limited. Considine has been a director since 1997.
Mary J. Steele Guilfoile, chairman of MG Advisors, Inc. Guilfoile has been a director since 2007.
Dawn Hudson, vice chairman of The Parthenon Group. Hudson has been a director since 2011.
Macy's, Inc.
Four out of the 10 board members at Macy's are women.
Marna C. Whittington, former CEO of Allianz Global Investors Capital. Whittington has been a director since 1993.
Deirdre P. Connelly, president of North American Pharmaceuticals of GlaxoSmithKline. Connelly has been a director since 2008.
Sara Levinson, former chairman and CEO of ClubMom, Inc. Levinson has been a director since 1997.
Joyce M. Roché, former president and CEO of Girls Incorporated. Roché has been a director since 2006.
The Proctor & Gamble Company
Five out of the 10 board members at the Proctor & Gamble Company are women.
Angela F. Braly, president and CEO of WellPoint, Inc. Braly has been a director since 2009.
Susan Desmond-Hellmann, chancellor and Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Desmond-Hellmann has been a director since 2010.
Margaret C. Whitman, president and CEO of Hewlett Packard. Whitman has been a director since 2011.
Mary Agnes Wilderotter, CEO of Frontier Communications Corporation. Wilderotter has been a director since 2009.
Patricia A. Woertz, CEO and president of Archer Daniels Midland Company. Woertz has been a director since 2008.
The Walt Disney Company
Four out of the 10 board members at The Walt Disney Company are women.
Susan Arnold is retired and was the former president of Global Business Units of Procter & Gamble from 2007 to 2009. Arnold has been a director since 2007.
Judith L. Estrin, CEO of JLABS, LLC (formerly Packet Design Management Company, LLC). Estrin has been a director since 1998.
Monica C. Lozano, CEO of impreMedia, LLC. Lozano has been a director since 2000.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of of Facebook, Inc. Sandberg has been a director since 2010.
Xerox Corporation
Four out of the 10 board members at Xerox Corporation are women.
Ursula M. Burns, CEO of Xerox. Burns has been a director since 2007.
Ann N. Reese, executive director at the Center for Adoption Policy. Reese has been a director since 2003.
Sara Martinez Tucker, president and CEO of National Math and Science Initiative. Tucker has been a director since 2011.
Mary Agnes Wilderotter, CEO of Frontier Communications Corporation. Wilderotter has been a director since 2006.