Wolverine, Herman Miller, Steelcase among West Michigan firms in '20 percent club'
Crain’s Detroit Business Publisher Mary Kramer cites a study by Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business and the Inforum Center for Leadership in her column showing that the percentage of women holding leadership positions is down slightly from 2013. She writes: "In all, I counted 18 companies on the list of 100 statewide who could boast at least 20 percent female board membership. But the Michigan Women's Leadership Report — produced by the Inforum Center for Leadership, the education and research arm of the state's leading women's organization, and Wayne State University's Mike Ilitch School of Business — shows the needle hasn't really moved much: 11.5 percent of all seats on the top 100 companies are held by women, down from 11.6 percent in 2013." Top female C-suite earners dropped to 8 percent from 9.6 percent two years ago; the percentage of CEOs is the same, 13 percent. "Wayne State researchers noted that studies suggest the closer a company is to its customers the greater the likelihood of board diversity. No surprise, then, that GM and Kellogg each have five women directors," Kramer noted. Profs. Toni Somers and Sheri Perelli conducted the research on behalf of the Mike Ilitch School of Business.
