s, the number of women on the fortune 500 will hit a record 21 on january 1, when phebe novakovic takesharge at general dynamics. recently i talked with catalyst president ilene lang and asked her what's holding women back. >> the reason women don't get to the top jobs is because in their careers they are not tapped for the assignments that would really give them that breakthrough experience where they have the experience and the visibility that they have done what we call top jobs. women and men get leadership training, they get sent to classes, they get coaching, they get sponsorship and mentorship. but at the end of the day, the jobs that the men get have three times the budget, twice the staff, much more international, even among women who say they're ready for an international assignment they want to have one, much higher percentage of the men who say they're available are tapped for them than women. >> susie: so what's it going to take to get more women to become c.e.o.s? right now there are only 20 women who are c.e.o.s of fortune 500 companies. when i first started out as a busi