Success, Redefined

by Kristy Como Armand

Women are no longer simply working to earn a place at the table. 

Increasingly, they are deciding what they want that place—and the rest of their lives—to look like. Leadership, entrepreneurship, flexibility, family, purpose and personal fulfillment are all part of a broader definition of professional success, one that looks different for every woman. 

The numbers demonstrate how firmly women have established themselves in the professional landscape. Women now earn 60% of all degrees awarded by Title IV colleges and universities annually. In 2024, the last year complete data is available, women earned nearly 60% of bachelor’s degrees, more than 63% of master’s degrees and 59% of doctoral degrees awarded in the U.S. 

That educational achievement is reflected in the workforce. In 2025, women represented 52.2% of workers in management, professional and related occupations. Yet they accounted for only 41.8% of management occupations and 33% of chief executives, illustrating that progress has not translated equally to every level of leadership. 

Keri Forbess-McCorquodale, MS, LPC, LMFT, CEAP, director of Solutions Counseling & EAP, has watched women’s expectations of career and success evolve over several generations. 

For many Baby Boomer women, she says, success meant proving they could compete in a workplace largely designed by and for men. “Their idea of success was to get married like their mothers and have careers like their fathers,” she explains. “Their goal was to be superwomen who successfully juggled challenging, meaningful and well-paid careers with a beautiful home, smiling children and handsome husbands.” 

Women proved they could succeed professionally, but many also began questioning the cost of trying to do everything at once. 

“Women had proven they could make it in the workplace, but at what price?” Forbess-McCorquodale says. “Many successful working women began to reevaluate what they really wanted from their careers and what they were willing to sacrifice to get it.” 

Today, she says that reevaluation is helping broaden the definition of ambition. For some women, success means reaching the executive suite. A record 55 women—11%—lead Fortune 500 companies in 2026. It is significant progress, although women remain substantially underrepresented at the top of corporate America. 

For others, success means creating their own opportunities by starting a business of their own. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, women owned 14.2 million U.S. businesses in 2023, generating $2.8 trillion in receipts. The number of women-owned businesses with paid employees grew nearly 20% between 2017 and 2023, further demonstrating women’s growing role as entrepreneurs and business leaders. 

Greater opportunity, however, has not eliminated longstanding disparities. In 2025, women working full time had median weekly earnings of $1,089 compared with $1,326 for men, meaning women earned about 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. 

Forbess-McCorquodale believes one of the most important changes is that women increasingly recognize there is no single model they must follow. “Instead of focusing on the next rung of the corporate ladder, more working women are realizing they have options, along with the power and confidence to say, ‘I can create my own version of personal success.’” 

That may ultimately be one of the most meaningful measures of progress. Women are leading companies, launching businesses, building careers and making choices about how work fits into their lives, setting an example for the next generation. “Success is no longer defined only by a title, paycheck or corner office,” adds Forbess-McCorquodale. “It can also mean purpose, flexibility, influence, fulfillment and the freedom to decide what matters most.” 

After generations spent challenging expectations about what women could achieve, today’s women have greater opportunity to answer a different question: “What does success mean to me?”