Women and girls who participate in sports have higher chances of career success. | Unsplash photo by Renith R.
What you probably already know: The 2025 Women CEOs in America Report links early participation in sports to higher chances of becoming a CEO. The second section of the fifth annual report from the Women Business Collaborative — “Field to Fortune: Athletics and Women CEO Leadership” — finds that playing sports has been a boost to women at all leadership levels. “On the field, women learn to make strategic decisions under pressure, lead teams toward shared goals and persevere through setbacks — all qualities that mirror the demand of corporate leadership,” the study says. “Sports also instill confidence, resilience, and the ability to navigate competitive environments.”
Why it matters: Citing various sources, the report found that:
• 69% of women earning more than $100,000 in leadership roles played competitive sports.
• 71% of women leaders at the manager to C-suite level have a background in sports.
• Research from Cornell University showed that 80% of Fortune 500 executives and 94% of women in C-suite roles had a background in college athletics.
• 67% of women believe they carried skills from sports into adulthood.
“It is not surprising that our report found that women CEOs have frequently participated in college-level sports,” the report says, “and that their involvement is a contributor to their corporate success.”
What it means: “Being an athlete has certainly manifested itself in my leadership style,” Chart Industries CEO Jill Evanko, a former Division 1 tennis player at LaSalle University, said in the report. “Being a good teammate is No. 1. It’s not about you. You’re not the person making the company money and keeping people employed. It’s the team. And those are the people you have to empower.” Eight athletes, or 17% of women CEOs leading S&P 500 companies, played sports including basketball, rugby, softball and volleyball at a collegiate level. The percentages are similar at Russell 3000 companies. The Trump administration recently dropped a proposal that would have rolled back Title IX protections in sports and education programs (Title IX is a 1972 civil rights law that bars discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program that receives federal funding).
What happens now: The report encourages corporate leaders and society in general to enthusiastically support girls and women in sports. “Major action steps” include counseling high school girls to keep a favorite sport in their mix as they head to college; reiterate the connection between playing sports and future career success; take steps so that women’s sports are recognized as equal to men’s at both the amateur and professional levels; and create connections between women in sports leadership positions and other industries. As the report notes, sports “directly translates into boardrooms and executive offices. The two are clearly connected.”
