This biopharmaceutical company carefully tracks the percentage of female employees in its talent pool who are under consideration for positions at the executive level and above, and even rewards members of its Women’s Affinity Network who recommend appropriate candidates for open jobs. Should a current employee want to take her career to new heights, she can utilize the company’s tuition aid (which covers up to 75% of the cost of job-related college courses) or check out one of its four excellence programs, available in finance, human resources, marketing and sales. Formal mentoring can be arranged via Connections, an initiative for members of the company’s employee resource groups, or Insights for Success, which helps women at the director level and above to better assess their leadership skills, refine organizational abilities and navigate the top tier. In fact, women executives already run half of the major divisions or operations that earn more than $1 billion at the company.

CEO: Lamberto Andreotti

Senior VP, HR, Public Affairs & Philanthropy: John Celentano

% of senior managers who are women: 39%

% of corporate executives who are women: 29%

% of promotions to manager, senior manager and corporate executive positions that went to women: 48%

% of the top 10% of the company’s earners who are women: 31%

% of corporate executives with profit-and-loss responsibility who are women: 25%

% of the executives running divisions with revenues of more than a billion dollars who are women: 50%

% of executives who report directly to the CEO who are women: 25%

% of the members of the board of directors who are women: 18%

% of female workforce participating in mentoring: 3%