Women CEOs Are Good For Business, Says Study

According to the numbers, companies with women at the top make more money.

An analysis from Fortune showed that Fortune 1000 companies with female CEOs record better stock market returns than those with male CEOs. Only 51 of the Fortune 1000 companies are run by women.

"Fortune 1000 companies with female chiefs outperformed the S&P 500 index over their respective tenures," Fortune's Caroline Fairchild wrote. This means that, in general, female CEOs' overall performances are higher than their male counterparts' when it comes to stock market returns.

The number of female-headed Fortune 500 companies has grown from just two in 1998 to 24 in 2014, an all-time high. The Fortune study also revealed that female-led companies generate 7 percent of Fortune 1000's total revenue, even though women only make up 5 percent of Fortune 1000 CEOs.

And of those female fortune 1000 CEOs who chose to disclose their family status, over 80 percent reported that they are also wives and mothers.

While it's difficult to identify the exact reason women-led companies are seeing better results, research from the Ketchum Leadership Communication Monitor found that it may have something to do with women's approach to management. The study surveyed over 6,500 people in 13 countries on which qualities they thought make for better leaders. Data revealed that people favor leaders who lead by example and handle crises calmly and confidently -- all characteristics that the study also found to be more common in female leaders.

Sadly, the gender pay gap still looms large, with some estimating it will take 75 years to close at the rate we're going now. To top it off, research shows that women CEOs are more likely to be fired than their male counterpart with women being forced out of their positions a third of the time and men only a quarter of the time.

Here's to hoping that number of female CEOs in Fortune 1000 companies continues to rise.