Welcome the help of male colleagues. Several women point to their former and current CEOs — all men — as key teachers. Douglas says CEO Frissora is "very instructive on how to motivate people and get the most out of them." Christine Gorjanc, CFO of Netgear, credits her promotion to former CFO Jonathan Mather, who "did a great job of introducing me to the right people." Matus says she is grateful to a male colleague who critiqued the town halls she ran as a division CEO.

Of course, one's definition of success is a very personal matter. Many companies work hard to develop female executive talent, through recruitment, training, networking, and mentoring programs. Recruiters joke that some clients offer to pay double if they can find a woman. While few would claim that discrimination never comes into play, the relative dearth of female CFOs appears to owe far more to priorities than to capabilities, a fact not lost on the women who have assumed the most powerful finance positions in the country. "There's a big sacrifice you make when you move into one of these roles," says Matus. Adds Ramos: "If you want to get to the CFO level, you have to be willing to make some difficult decisions along the way. Not every woman is, and that doesn't mean they're wrong."

That may be the most useful lesson of all: to get it, you have to know that you want it.

Alix Stuart is a senior writer at CFO. Additional research was provided by Kate Plourd and Jane Coulter.

No Net Gain

The 10 female CFOs who joined the Fortune 500…

1. Glynis Bryan, Insight Enterprises
2. Erin Callan, Lehman Brothers
3. Christa Davies, Aon
4. Elyse Douglas, Hertz Global Holdings
5. Irene Esteves, Regions Financial
6. Kristi Matus, USAA
7. Victoria Reich, United Stationers
8. Denise Ramos, ITT
9. Sabrina Simmons, The Gap
10. Lizabeth Zlatkus, The Hartford

…and the 10 who left

1. Jean S. Blackwell, Cummins
2. Susan Decker, Yahoo
3. Linda Dimopoulos, Darden Restaurants
4. Kathleen S. Dvorak, United Stationers
5. Judy C. Lewent, Merck
6. Dianne M. Neal, Reynolds American
7. Patricia A. McKay, Office Depot
8. Marianne M. Parrs, International Paper
9. JoAnn A. Reed, Medco Health Solutions
10. E. Follin Smith, Constellation Energy

25 Women to Watch

The pipeline of women poised to become Fortune 500 CFOs is well stocked. According to our calculations, there are 87 female corporate controllers and 70 treasurers at America's largest companies. How many will actually make the leap depends on a variety of factors. But executive recruiters appear to be keeping a particularly close eye on:

1: Joan Lordi Amble
Age: 55
Title: EVP & corporate comptroller, American Express, since December 2003
Previous title: COO & CFO, Capital Markets unit of GE
Education: BS, Penn State University
What has been your most important career move?
"My decision to jump off the partner track at Ernst & Young for a role at the Financial Accounting Standards Board. From a networking perspective, it opened many doors and was the catalyst to opportunities that would have likely never otherwise been presented."

2: Mary Boland
Age: 50
Title: SVP & CFO, The Americas, Levi Strauss
Previous title: VP & CFO, North America, Levi Strauss
Education: BS, Davenport University; MSM, Central Michigan University

3: Aileen Blake
Age: 40
Title: EVP & controller, Northern Trust, since April 2005
Previous title: VP, financial planning, analysis, and reporting; PepsiCo Beverages and Foods
Education: BS, Indiana University; MBA, Kellogg Graduate School, Northwestern University

4: Lynn Calpeter
Age: 44
Title: EVP & CFO, NBC Universal, since May 2004
Previous title: EVP & CFO, NBC; before that, VP, corporate audit staff, General Electric
Education: BS, Cornell University
What, if any, obstacles do you see in corporate finance that are unique to women?
"I don't see any that are unique to women. At GE and NBC Universal, the fact that so many women hold senior corporate finance positions illustrates that gender-based barriers do not exist at our company."

5: Marcia Dall
Age: 44
Title: VP & financial officer, Cigna Healthcare, since January
Previous title: CFO, Genworth Financial's international and U.S. mortgage insurance segments
Education: BA, Indiana University; MSM, Northwestern University

6: Victoria Dolan
Age: 48
Title: EVP & CFO, Marriott Vacation Club International, since 2004
Previous title: SVP & CFO, International Lodging, Marriott International
Education: BA, MBA, University of California (Los Angeles)

7: Shelagh Glaser
Age: 44
Title: Finance director, Mobility Group, since July 2006
Previous title: Controller, Intel Sales & Marketing Group
Education: BA, University of Michigan; MBA, Carnegie Mellon University

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