BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is the best major employer for women in Tennessee, according to a ranking released Thursday by Forbes magazine.
Forbes ranked the Chattanooga-based BlueCross No. 30 among 300 top employers cited by the financial magazine for the best places for women to work.
Best employers for women in Tennessee
Among the 300 best major employers for women in the United States, nine were in Tennesee and, in order, they are:1. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in Chattanooga2. Covenant Health in Knoxville3. St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis4. Mehodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis5. Vanderbilt University in Nashville6. Clayton Homes in Maryville7. Smith & Nephew in Memphis8. Intermedix in Nashville9. Lifeway Christian Resouces in NashvilleSource: Forbes magazine, "Best Employers for Women"
The ranking was compiled by Forbes with the research firm Statista and was based upon a survey of 40,000 employees, including 25,000 women, who work at companies with a minimum of 1,000 employees in the United States.
BlueCross has about 6,000 employees, nearly three fourths of whom are women.
"As a company whose workforce is 73 percent female, we fully understand the importance of supporting a culture that positively impacts the working lives of women," Karen Ward, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for BlueCross, said in a statement in respone to the ranking. "It's exciting to see our ongoing commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity validated in this way."
Most of the nine Tennessee companies that appear on the Forbes list of best employers for women are in the healthcare field, but BlueCross was the only major employer on the list in the Chattanooga region.
For BlueCross, the designation is the third Forbes ranking earned by the company this year. In early 2018, BlueCross was recognized by Forbes as one of the country's top employers for diversity. The insurer also earned a place on the global business media company's list of America's Best Places to Work.
To prepare its rankings on best places for women workers, Statista asked both men and women workers at employers with 1,000 or more employees to rate their organizations on criteria such as working conditions, diversity and how likely they'd be to recommend their employer to others. These responses were reviewed for potential gender gaps.
Statista then asked female respondents to rate their employers on factors such as parental leave, discrimination and pay equity. These respondents were also asked to nominate organizations in industries outside their own. The final list ranks the 300 employers that both received the most recommendations and boast the most gender diverse boards and executive ranks.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.