Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, University of Bonn, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the question why there are so few women in leadership positions with the S&P 500 and what the implications thereupon are. I identified two umbrella terms, which are on the one hand self-effacement of women to aim that highout of personal reasons, and on the other hand a pipeline that is blocked with men and hinders women from climbing the ladder. With these as foundation, I will then examine the phenomenon of the celebrity CEO and women in the spotlight. The focus of thesecond main chapter will lie on two case studies, based on the former findings, and for this purpose I will elaborate on Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo.