Inquirer Editorial: Still fighting

What do women want? They want just what they deserve: an equal shot at opportunity.

But they're not being afforded that opportunity, according to statistics cited by a national, bipartisan initiative convening an important gathering of women leaders from around the country in Philadelphia on Thursday and Friday.

The Vision 2020 initiative, run out of the Drexel University College of Medicine, points out that only 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs and 18 percent of national political leaders are women, while the average woman earns just more than 78 cents for each dollar earned by a male peer.

The group is gathering at the National Constitution Center to discuss strategies to expand equality for women and launch "a decadelong action agenda" on equality and women's leadership.

Participants known as delegates have been listening to panel discussions, and will shape their agenda around issues facing women in the arts, business, law, communications, politics, health, philanthropy, religion, the sciences, and other fields.

In an appropriate flourish, the conference is headlined by three strong-willed women: Think of them as Thelma of Thelma & Louise, Dr. Quinn, and Princess Leia. Actually, they're actresses Geena Davis and Jane Seymour, and physician and NASA astronaut Mae Jemison.

But beyond that bit of sizzle, the event organizers have assembled panelists of heavy hitters from various fields.

Does the Vision 2020 conference rank as the conferees' equivalent of a chick flick? Hardly.

Advancing equal opportunity for fully half the U.S. population is an undertaking that's vital to the future of the entire nation.