Women on Deck | Reports & Insights - Korn Ferry Institute

New data shows women's participation in the workforce is at its highest this decade, but experts say there's a lot more to be done. Plus, our look at International Women's Day, Leadership from this week's news, as reported by our team.

Photo: Korn Ferry Institute

You could call it a comeback. After years of watching their share of the labor pool shrink, the latest federal data shows women’s workplace participation in the United States has hit a new high for the decade.

The number of women active in the country’s labor force reached 75.8% in the last quarter of 2018, the highest since 2010, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s still below the peak of 77.3% in the year 2000, but the rising tide of women in the workforce is “great news” for organizations looking to diversify their C-suite, says Heather Barnfield, director of intellectual property development at the Korn Ferry Institute, Korn Ferry’s research arm...

The timing of the new stats couldn’t be better as International Women’s Day rolls around this Friday, March 8. The uptick could be counted among the positive strides that have been made since last March to advance diversity among leadership. Amid the progress: in 2018, women in the United States gained more seats on boards and in Congress than they had in at least a decade. And across the pond, the United Kingdom saw the highest number of women in history sitting in the House of Commons last year.
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Source: Korn Ferry Institute