Equality of opportunity between women and men, especially in the business world, is a topic that has long been discussed around the world. The subject has grown so popular recently that positive developments in countries regarding the matter became a source of prestige. A few weeks ago, I participated in the executive-MBA graduation ceremony of one of the leading universities in the country as a guest speaker. It was very exciting and inspiring to see that top 4 students with the highest GPA of the program of 40 were women. On top of that, some of the women students of the programme were professionals with long dated business backgrounds. Some of them were also mothers. Why I am emphasizing that is because they achieved that success despite the heavy responsibilities of being a working mother. After that experience, I decided to look closer to “gender equality in the business world” topic, which had been out of my radar for a long time. While I was doing my research, I precisely focused on the leadership and management positions and my findings were quite compelling. Undoubtedly the theme “women and leadership” should not be limited to the business arena. The role of women in the global politics has been rising in recent years as well. Looking at history, there were eras where women ruled empires. However for this specific article, I will focus on the business platform. Let’s start from the US, a country that is considered as the heart of corporate life… According to Pew Research’s latest report, the number of Fortune 500 companies that trust women with their top management positions is only 26 (5,4 %). When we expand the list and look at the top 1000 companies, the rate unfortunately stays the same: 5, 4 %. This number is undoubtedly very low, but it should not incline that we live in a “men’s world”. The reason is that 20 years ago there weren’t even one woman CEO in the Fortune 500 list but today we are witnessing the exponential rise of women in business world. Furthermore, the number is much higher in regard of board members. (The number of women board members have doubled since 1995.) Still, there is a long way to go. Almost half of the workforce today in the US is consisted of women (45 %). According to the statistics the number of women in business decreases as they move up the career ladder. Yes, it may take some time to establish equality in management positions, however there are many indicators for a possible rapid change. For example, the numbers about women education… Since 1990’s, higher education institutions recorded admittance and graduation of more women than men and the ratio is continuing to grow in women’s favor. This is also true for masters and PhD degrees… UNESCO’s global reports show the same tendency. (The rate of women with master’s degree is 57 percent.) Let’s have a look at the situation on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, The United Kingdom. FTSE numbers show that there are only 5 women CEOs in the top 100 companies of the UK, which means the rate is the same as it is in US. If we add chairwomen the number rises to 7, which still is a very low number. The number of CEOs and chairmen that are named John in the top 100 companies is 17, Davids are 14. The names Ian, Mark or Andrew are all more than total number of chairwomen and women CEOs. Researches show that the situation is also similar in Australia. The only difference in Australia is that the most popular name is not John but Peters. On the other hand, in the US, the situation is similar in regard of board members. The women ratio in England has also doubled in the last 5 year. It is even higher than US. Here I should emphasis that the increased women representation in boards is a result of the government’s efforts and policies. Policies towards empowering women in the business world such as the “Women Executive Quota” is becoming widespread around Europe and rapidly changing the numbers for the benefit of women. One of the most important things to consider here is that the rate of women board members is always more than women CEO’s or general managers. The message is clear: Companies give place to women in their boards because there are more than one seat but when it comes to the CEO position, the male dominance prevails. Now let’s have a look at Turkey… What are the numbers for high level women executives working in Turkish companies? Compared to other countries how often do we let women to take control in business? Considering the largest companies in Turkey, we see that the rate of women CEO’s is close to 4 percent. At first, it may seem lower compared to aforementioned countries however the gap is not that wide. Elements such as equality of opportunities between men and women or the culture are considered as the shapers of this ratio but the structure of the economy can be important as much. Some sectors can in nature be more suitable for a specific gender. If the largest industry of a country is naturally more convenient for one of the genders, the numbers change accordingly. Exceptions do not break the rule but the chances are much higher for a woman to be the general manager of a service or finance institution instead of a construction company. In fact, the expertise field or the department in a business is also determinative in the number of women or men leaders. For example, let’s think about deputy general manager positions in the top management category in any country… What do you think is the percentage of women deputy general managers responsible of HR compared to ones responsible of manufacturing or sales? Some global researches show that women managers have a positive impact on companies’ performance. Same is also stated by ILO-International Labour Organization. In fact the US and UK figures are enough to have a clear idea on the global outlook. In fact, while the average of women CEOs in the largest companies in the world is 5%, the rate goes up to 20% in board membership. And this shows that “male dominated boardrooms” are already history. Another important note to consider here is that larger companies have lower rate of women managers but the numbers are actually higher in general. As the scope of companies grows (in terms of revenue, total assets, number of employees, etc.) the chances for women to become CEOs decrease. ILO’s studies on managerial positions of women in business world provide some interesting Turkish statistics as well. With 11%, Turkey is the second country with the highest rate of women Chairman of Board. Plus, Turkey is among the top countries where the rate of women board members is the highest. However in the total management positions, Turkey ranks 95th among 108 countries. (Years that are the base for the results of this list varies a great deal for each country.) All these statistics give us a message. As stated in an article in The Economist, scientific studies prove that women and men have completely different ways of thinking. What are the advantages of women? First of all, their memory is much stronger compared to men and they are more skilled in terms of social adaptation. Plus their multitasking abilities is way more advanced. Some of these differences are caused by neurological formations while the others are results of sociological and evolutionary heritage of thousands of years. Researches on neurological structure by Dr. Ragini Verma from Pennsylvania University bring about some interesting findings. As long as there still are realities that push the studies focusing on the differences between the two genders’ brain structures into the background, it will not be easy to ensure equal opportunities for both genders. So what are these realities? Though today’s men are getting to be more active in the family life, the role women undertake in a family is always more. And the traditional roles men and women are given in a culture are highly reflected in the corporate life as well. Women find it more and more difficult to find top management roles as they already have difficulty in getting mid-level manager positions. Also the lack of role models to provide guidance from and many other obstacles women encounter in the business world made the already few women executives adopt men’s style of management. They thought they could succeed only that way. This may be an understandable approach in the past’s conditions, however today while we are getting closer to the 2020’s, what we need more than ever is women who lead the business as a woman, not like “a man”. At the end they will have positive difference in the business world and create value.