'Flatlined': a year of no change.

• Position: WOMEN ON BOARDS - Statistical data

Ed. Note: With its annual census of women board directors in the Fortune 500, Catalyst provides an important resource for gauging women's advancement into leadership and puts a focus on the gender diversity gap. Here are some summary highlights pulled from its 2012 board census, along with two exhibits from the report: one that shows the top 10 companies with the highest percentage of women on their boards and one that shows a top 10 list of companies with no women on their boards. These reports and other women on boards data, as well as information on the Catalyst Corporate Board Resource cited below, are available on the Catalyst website (www.catalyst.org).

Despite high-profile news about gender gaps, equal pay, and women on boards, once again the needle barely budged for women aspiring to top business leadership in corporate America. Among the findings from the 2012 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors and 2012 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Executive Officers and Top Earners:

* Women's share of board director and executive officer positions increased by only half a percentage point or less during the past year.

* Women held only 16.6% of board seats in 2012--the seventh consecutive year of no growth.

* Women held 14.3% of executive officer positions--flat-lined for the third straight year.

* Women of color held only 3.3% of board seats, indicating no growth.

* More than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies had no women of color board directors for the fifth consecutive year.

* Women held only 8.1% of top earner slots.

Responding to this challenge, Catalyst has initiated the Catalyst Corporate Board Resource, which enables Catalyst's highly respected board directors and member company CEOs to recommend women they personally sponsor and endorse as "corporate...