Women take heart! Your numbers among newspaper publishers across the country are higher than ever and the growth rate is increasing.

“Stereotypes and prejudices that have kept women out of the front office for years seem to be fading, according to statistics that show the percentage of women holding the publisher title at top papers more than doubling in the past three years,” according to Editor and Publisher.

The actual number of women holding the title of publisher at the country’s highest-circulation papers is still small, but “surveys and anecdotal information suggest they are being given more opportunities at smaller papers, as well as middle- and upper-management spots at major papers that are a prerequisite for promotion,” the article said.

The Editor and Publisher article cites a just-completed survey by the Media Management Center at Northwestern University, which examined all 137 daily newspapers with a circulation of more than 85,000. The numbers show that 18 percent of those newspapers now have female publishers, compared with 14 percent last year and only 8 percent in 2000. “In raw numbers, that means 25 of the 137 papers have female publishers, more than double the count from just three years ago,” the article stated.

In addition, the number of women editors at the same papers has grown from 26 in 2002 to 30 this year, a rise from 20 percent to 22 percent.

The article also quotes a recent study by Fortune magazine showing the percentage of female publishers is higher than the percentage of women in Congress (14 percent in the House and Senate), but below the 21 percent of college presidents who are women. By comparison, women make up only 8 percent of corporate top-level executive positions, and only eight of the Fortune 500 CEOs are female, the Fortune article revealed.

“While only four of the top 30 circulation papers have women publishers, all of those women were appointed since 1999, with two of them promoted within the last two years,” the Editor and Publisher article said. “So while the percentages remain low in the upper ranks, the speed with which they are improving indicates women are getting more of a chance at the top newspaper publishing posts.”

“Whether the increase is due to newspapers and owners making a concerted effort to hire more women, as some executives contend, or the result of a long-running push by women to work their way to the top, the influence of women in publisher’s positions is being seen more than ever,” according to the article.

The Media Management Center study identified The McClatchy Company as having the highest percentage of women publishers of any major newspaper company. “Asked if the women publishers are holding their own, (Gary) Pruit (the McClatchy CEO) points to statistics that show circulation increases and ad revenue surges that rival those of any McClatchy newspapers run by men,” according to E&P.