Female Leaders Soar To Top In Aerospace and Defense Industry

Women make up more than half of America’s workforce, but when it comes to securing leadership positions at top companies, they’re greatly outnumbered.

When Forbes released their Fortune 500 list in 2017, the number of female CEOs reached an all-time high of 32. In June 2018, that number slid down to 24 – just 5% of the list. That’s a one-year decline of 25%.

The already small roster of Fortune 500 companies led by women shrunk even further this October after PepsiCo Inc. Chief Executive Indra Nooyi stepped down from her role, leaving the number of top-level Fortune 500 women at a mere two dozen.

Across the board, the percentage of chief executive positions held by women is declining, but one typically male-dominated industry is tipping the gender scales the other way.

In this article, we discuss the ascent of top female CEOs and their impact on the aerospace and defense industry. We also discuss our Women in Leadership Roundtable, to be held at the American Aerospace & Defense Summit December 12-13th 2018 in Glendale, Arizona, and the inspirational leaders taking part.