In AstraZeneca’s U.S. commercial organization, an 18-month program called LEAP offers intensive coaching, career development activities and additional education to talented midlevel employees; half of all participants are female.

Top 10. Employees work hard at this pharmaceutical company, and management wants to ensure they take time for themselves. So in 2011, the company established global guidelines that create an atmosphere supportive of work life balance—and subsequently made achieving the same a key objective for managers. Education and training programs are still widely available for employees in every job function (from sales and marketing to operations), and those at midlevel and above can follow specific development plans to advance their careers. Formal mentoring programs (live and virtual) support women with the potential to move into leadership roles.

COO, U.S. Business: Marion McCourt

Executive Director, U.S. HR Services: Deborah Kauffman

% of senior managers who are women: 41%

% of corporate executives who are women: 29%

% of the top 10% of the company’s earners who are women: 36%

% of corporate executives with profit-and-loss responsibility who are women: 26%

% of the executives running divisions with revenues of more than a billion dollars who are women: 17%

% of executives who report directly to the CEO who are women: 33%

% of the members of the board of directors who are women: 27%