Candid conclusion: 'barely budged'.

• Position: BOARD DIVERSITY REPORT

Ed. Note: Always a telling gauge of the progress of women's advancement into the C-suite and the boardroom is the annual Women on Boards report issued by the Forum of Executive Women. Founded in 1977, the Forum of Executive Women is the Philadelphia metropolitan region's premier women's organization, actively working to increase the number of women in leadership roles. This year's report, drawn from an analysis of 2014 year-end SEC filings of the 100 largest public companies in the Philadelphia region, is titled Making Change Happen--What's It Going to Take? Beleased in October, the report documents minimal progress in 2014 in bolstering the ranks of corporate women leaders in the region. Some key findings follow.

The proportion of corporate women leaders in Philadelphia-area companies has barely budged in recent years. Women only held 13% of board seats and 13% of executive positions at these companies in 2014--a share that netted no overall change from the year before.

The report not only provides a status report on the number of women leaders at public companies but also at a selection of universities and health care systems in the Philadelphia region. Key results of the top 100 public companies include:

* 35 had no women on their boards * 49 had no women in their top executive ranks

* 94 were headed by a male CEO 'Top Earners' statistics are telling:

* Women comprised only 10% of top earners at the 100 public companies * Women comprised 20% of top earners at healthcare systems

* Women made up 27% of top earners at colleges and universities Numbers among health systems, four-year colleges and universities are slightly better than public company figures:

* In 2013 women held 30% of board seats and 40% of CEO/president positions at four-year colleges and universities

* In hospitals and health systems, women held 24% of board seats and 28% of CEO/president positions

In addition to the one-year snapshot, the report includes...