Her No. 1 Problem

So why is it so difficult to get women into leadership positions? Gwin thinks the network for women has not been as strong as it traditionally has for men. "There are few women role models," she said. Ten Fortune 500 chief executives are women. "I wish there were a lot more." The path for women to get to the top of the top "isn't quite easy or clear," Gwin said.

In addition, Lang said, women are still judged differently than men, which keeps them from the higher positions. Companies have told Catalyst in research interviews that once they looked at their own behavior, they realized they had to change their thinking. For instance, companies found that women who are "good citizens" and are helpful to colleagues and clients are not given extra credit for that. Because they are women, it is assumed they will be good team players who help each other, Lang said. But women who don't act that way are penalized.

Meanwhile, men get extra credit for reaching out and helping colleagues and clients. But those who are less helpful and more aggressive aren't penalized. "Companies have an 'aha' moment over it, and that's what we're trying to do," Lang said. "So we tell them to evaluate the same way for women as you do for men. They have got to level the playing field."

Women are making some strides. According to a 2005 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of the Fortune 500, women held 14.7 percent of all Fortune 500 board seats, up from 13.6 percent in 2003 and 9.6 percent in 1995. But even that isn't such a rosy picture.

Catalyst has created a pyramid showing women's representation in the workforce. At the bottom is the general percentage of women in today's workforce: 46.4 percent. Next is the percentage of women in management, professional and related occupations: 50.6 percent. The Fortune 500 female corporate officers: 16.4 percent. Fortune 500 board seats occupied by women: 14.7 percent. Fortune 500 highest titles: 9.4 percent. Fortune 500 top earners: 6.4 percent. And finally, the Fortune 500 female chief executives: 1.6 percent.

Talk about lonely at the top.

Companies used to say that women weren't at the top because they didn't have the right experience or hadn't been "in the workforce long enough," Lang said. "They don't say that anymore. They recognize women have been in the workplace for a long time. They know this is about environmental and cultural barriers to women in the workplace. That doesn't mean it's easy to make change, but they understand that the workplace hasn't changed. And that the attitude toward executive women hasn't changed."

Rebecca Shambaugh, president and chief executive of Shambaugh Leadership, a consulting firm, thinks women sometimes keep themselves down. As I wrote in an earlier column, she thinks there is not necessarily a glass ceiling, but sometimes a sticky floor. "It's the fear of the unknown, the fear of getting out of the comfort zone," she said. "They don't test those assumptions or ask higher-ups how they do it."

However, she sees more women filling that vacuum -- just not so much in the Fortune 500. Rather, women are leading smaller firms or their own organizations. There were 6.5 million women-owned businesses in 2002, up 20 percent from 1997, according to U.S. Census figures released last year.

And if companies start listening to their boards and shareholders, perhaps they will work even harder to put more women in leadership positions. "In order to bring diversity and fresh viewpoints, companies need to bring those people to the table," Gwin said. "The public and shareholders are demanding diversity. . . . The demands have grown every year that I have been here to see more diversity at the corporate officer level."

Join Amy from 11 a.m. to noon Tuesday athttp://washingtonpost.comto discuss your life at work. You can e-mail her atlifeatwork@washpost.com. Hear her on Washington Post radio (107.7 FM, 1500 AM) at 12:50 p.m. Mondays.