4 | WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE: THE CORPORATE PIPELINE A closer look at the corporate pipeline Based on four years of data from 462 companies employing almost 20 million people, including the 279 companies participating in this year’s study, two things are clear: 1. Women remain significantly underrepresented, particularly women of color. 2. Companies need to change the way they hire and promote entry- and manager-level employees to make real progress.