The ascension of GM CEO Mary Barra to the top executive spot at the automaker is one reason why the NAFE honored the automaker.

General Motors has been recognized as one of the nation’s best companies for offering female managers an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder.

The National Association for Female Executives, which recognizes American corporations that identify and promote successful women, named GM one of the “Top Companies for Executive Women.”

When the automaker opened in 1908, it was rare for women to be found anywhere near its executive offices, the organization noted in a release. Today, the story has obviously changed, as demonstrated by the elevation of Mary Barra from executive vice president of global product development, global purchasing and supply chain to CEO in January 2014.

Identifying the next generation of female leaders is a critical part of the company’s talent management process, and a select group of them are frequently sent to participate in the external Leadership America and Inforum Executive Leadership programs, where they meet experts who broaden their perspective and get them to think even bigger.

“We encourage diverse thinking and collaboration in everything we do at GM on our journey to become the most valued automotive company,” said GM Chief Executive Mary Barra. “At GM, one-fifth of our executives, one-fourth of our officers and more than one-third of our board members are women.”

Women also hold a number of other executive posts inside GM.

Barra, who joined GM in the early 1980s when female managers and executives were rare, has noted that companies change and corporate cultures are never static.

NAFE President Betty Spence said, “We’re counting the numbers of women in senior management at America’s top companies and are happy to find that companies are responding to the competition.

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The 2015 NAFE Top Companies demonstrate their understanding that having women in top executive posts increases the bottom line, Spence added.

(Click Here for details Toyota’s big changes in management.)

Compared with last year’s list, findings for the 2015 NAFE Top 50 Companies revealed percentage of women who hold board seats at the 2015 NAFE Top Companies grew to 29% from 27% last year.

(Nissan-Renault’s Ghosn aims to supplant GM as third-largest automaker by 2018. Click Here for the story.)

Half of the winning companies now have four or more women board directors; at the NAFE Top 50, 29% of board members are women, compared with just 19% among companies that make up the S&P 500. The GM Board of Directors has five women comprising 38% of its members.

Female representation at the CEO level held steady at 10% over the last four years at NAFE Top Companies – twice the percentage at Fortune 500 companies.