Just last week, The Inner Circle columnist Christine Carter shared her frustration over the lack of female leadership in the retail industry. And I must say, I agreed completely. While some early reports predict a positive 2015 outlook for women in the boardroom, it looks like a long road ahead.

Turnover rate among the nation’s CEOs reached a six-year high in 2014. The number of women replacing men as CEO rose to 103 last year from 61 in 2013 (a 70 percent increase), according to a report by global outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In addition, the number of women replacing women as CEO increased to 52 last year from 45 in 2013. Meanwhile, the number of women CEOs replaced by men decreased by 25 percent last year (87 in 2014 from 116 in 2013).

However, despite the strides made in 2014, much of the general public still believe men will continue to hold the majority of executive positions. In a recent study on women and leadership by the  Pew Research Center, 53 percent of the general public believe men will still hold more executive business positions than women. The study, which is based on a survey of 1,835 randomly selected adults, was conducted online in November 2014.

Furthermore, even though the Pew survey revealed women to have an edge over men when it comes to being ethical and honest (34 percent say women are more ethical and honest vs. the 3 percent that said men are more ethical and honest),  only 26 women are currently serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies — roughly 5 percent. In 1995, there were zero. So in 20 years women have gained a mere 5 percent of the CEO jobs at Fortune 500 companies.

According to the Pew study, men are prone to take more risks in leadership positions than women are. Check out the infographic below to learn more.

What are your thoughts on women in the boardroom in 2015? Do you think we’re making significant progress? What do you think needs to happen to drive change? Let us know in the comments section below.
Women in Business 2015