EVANSTON, Ill., March 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Despite continued gains in low to mid-level management positions, women still struggle to break through the corporate glass ceiling for coveted top management positions. Today, women account for nearly half of the nation's overall workforce but hold only 6 percent of corporate CEO and high-level executive roles. New research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University finds that one key to career advancement for women may lie in the gender make-up of a company's corporate board.

The research examines female representation on corporate boards and its subsequent effect on the gender composition of the company's top management positions. According to the study, a higher representation of women on a company's board of directors directly increases the female share of and access to higher positions within the company.

"Unfortunately, there are still institutional gender barriers in today's workplace that prevent women from holding high-level executive positions," said Professor David Matsa, assistant professor of finance at the Kellogg School. "Our research uncovers the impact of 'women helping women' at the highest level of company leadership. Women who hold board positions have a unique opportunity to propel their female colleagues into executive roles, so in effect when women's share of board seats increases, their share of top level positions also increases."