There has been a substantial increase in the number of women earning degrees and entering the labor force in the past several decades. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 58.6 percent of women held part-time or full-time jobs in 2010, up from 40.8 percent in 1970.

However, when it comes to women in leadership roles, the same level of progress can’t be claimed. The percentage of women in positions of authority decreases quickly the higher one looks in the corporate hierarchy: Women represent about 53 percent of new hires, but make up 26 percent of vice presidents and senior executives, and only 2 or 3 percent of CEOs. The authors of a McKinsey Quarterly report titled “Unlocking the Full Potential of Women in the U.S. Economy” spoke with 2,500 men and women and interviewed 30 chief diversity officers to get a better idea of which factors keep women from climbing the corporate ladder.

The researchers reported that women often lack role models, feel excluded from informal networks and don’t have a sponsor in upper management to create opportunities for them. Additionally, both male and female managers “continue to take viable female candidates out of the running, often on the assumption that the woman can’t handle certain jobs and also discharge family obligations.”

To explore this issue, the Business Record is hosting a half-day seminar titled Building for Brilliance: Developing Female Leaders, which will feature speakers Mary Stier, Dr. Charlene Bell and Sandy Hatfield Clubb, who will discuss the unique leadership qualities women offer and give advice on how to achieve success.

The Business Record caught up with all three to ask them one question…

What qualities do women have that make them strong leaders?

Mary Stier
Author, former president and publisher of The Des Moines Register

“There’s a chapter in my book titled ‘Leading by the Three Cs.’ Those are communication, collaboration and compassion. Women are naturally wired for those three attributes. We’re in the midst of a digital explosion, which is changing the way we communicate with one another. Because of that, women’s natural ability to communicate well and listen to a lot of different viewpoints is needed.”

Dr. Charlene Bell
Psychologist, educator, corporate consultant and author

“Self-awareness has always been my approach to it. Understanding ourselves allows us to lead from the inside out. And we need (self-awareness) because we are all motivated by different things and we need to understand what motivates us to do things well.”

Sandy Hatfield Clubb
Drake University athletic director

“The No. 1 thing is compassion. Women tend to apply a higher level of emotional intelligence when it comes to leadership, which is needed today to balance out male leadership. Research shows that companies that have women in at least 30 percent of leadership roles outperform companies that don’t, and I think it’s because of that balance.”