HP’s employee assistance provider offers parents eight confidential counseling sessions on marital, family or work issues every year.

Mothers employed by this technology company have a real outlet for their ambition. "I have worked in manufacturing, procurement, marketing and sales‚" says Kathy Chou, a vice president and mother of four. "HP allowed me to do rotational assignments when my children were young and promoted me as they grew older." It only takes 20 hours of work per week for employees to earn benefits. And that supports flexibility; last year a fifth of all workers opted to switch to part-time schedules, while nearly everyone else flexed their hours or telecommuted at some point. After the birth of a child, mothers can take six fully paid weeks off; adoptive parents receive up to $3,000 to cover their costs. Anyone seeking child care or elder care can call the company's resource and referral service or request a subsidized in-home visit through its backup-care provider. Pretax accounts help employees save $5,000 for dependent care annually.

Interim CEO Cathie Lesjak

Executive VP, HR Marcela Perez de Alonso

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 28%

Women among top earners 22%

Women on board of directors 18%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 20%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* Not tracked  

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 14%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement Not tracked  

Do formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance? No

*Percentages reflect number of women participants versus company’s total female workforce.