Many companies claim to be focused on advancing women in the workforce.  They have women's leadership programs, women's lunch and learns (or other internal networking events) and even actual, written, documented policies (get the sarcasm?) encouraging hiring managers to interview a diverse pool of candidates.

But is it all rhetoric?  Is someone blowing sunshine somewhere to make people think the company is pro-women?

If you really want to know if your company is pro-women - look around.  Here are 10 questions you can ask - and answer - to figure out if your company believes in you:

1. How many women are on the Board?

How many women sit on the company's Board of Directors, Board of Trustees or Advisory Boards (which Board you have depends on your company's structure).  I doubt you will see a majority, but at least 2 (or 20%) would be considered promising.  And this isn't to suggest the company is being sexist either.  It's a matter of statistics.  If there are 100 men vying for Board seats and 10 women, there will be more men.  We are simply looking for representation.  Over time, if there are 100 men and 100 women vying for the same Board seats, then we want 50/50 or better!

2. How many women executives are there?

Ok - this one can be a little tricky because what constitutes an "executive" at one firm versus another varies.  But, for simplicity, let's look at VP's and above (unless you are in financial services - then look at EVP's and above because VP titles are used excessively in this industry).  At the VP level and above, how many are female?  If the answer is ZERO, that is a huge warning sign.  I don't care if it is a "male dominated" industry or not because most industries are male dominated. Zero is zero.  Certain fields are more female dominated (think marketing and HR).  So there is no reason for a company to have at least 1 or 2 female VP's.

3. How long does it take females to be promoted along a career path than men?

This one is hard to answer.  You may have to dig, watch and observe.  But if you find that a woman has been a Director of Operations (or pick any position) for 5 years before getting promoted (on average) but a male counterpart got promoted in 3, then that's a flag.  If women are taking longer to be promoted than men, that's a flag. This is generally a systemic, cultural problem and not necessarily confined to one group or one department.  Some departments might be better at evaluating and promoting personnel equally.  When evaluating this question, look broadly - outside your own group - to determine if there is really a problem.

This isn't to say women should get promoted faster than men either.  We are trying to determine if, systemically, women are being promoted more SLOWLY than men.

4. How diverse are the applicant pools?  Is the company interviewing women as well?

Sometimes - and it can't be helped - there are not viable female candidates for some roles.  The question I am really asking is whether the company is actively searching for female candidates?  If they are at least trying to find women or trying to bring women into the organization, then that is a positive sign.

5. Are women being paid less than men - across the board?

This one is almost impossible to answer.  But if you have been in your own job for a long time (or with a company for a long time) and have been told - you are on the low end of the scale and we are working on it - then that is a flag as well.  Anyone who has been at a company (male or female) will end up being paid less than someone who job hops.  Simply put, companies give pay raises of 2% to 4% a year to current employees (which they should - this is normal).  But when you change jobs, you generally get a bigger increase (7% to 10%).  So, if you are in the same company for 5 - 10 years, you may not progress as fast as someone who job hops.  Some companies are fabulous about giving good raises to people who get promoted and "catching them up".  Some are not.  People will longevity (greater than 10 years) sometimes get screwed for their loyalty because they don't speak up. 

Please understand that just being a woman does not mean we should get to be paid MORE than our peers.  But it means that if we are working hard and performing well, we should be getting paid the same - more is ok too.

I have found that women end up in this situation more often than most mostly because women are more willing to accept the answer (you are in the range but at the low end) than men.  Men are more likely to say - if you want me to do this job, then pay me to do it or I will stay where I am.  Women will say - well, maybe I won't do well or it might be hard so I don't deserve more.  If the company thinks you can do it, ask for more.  If water cooler talk suggests that this is happening to almost every woman - then there is a problem.

CONCLUSION
The answer to whether your company is pro-women is all around you.  We just need to look.