Black women are now the most educated group in US, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Between 2009 and 2010, black women earned 68 per cent of associate's degrees, 66 per cent of bachelor's degrees, 71 per cent of master's degrees and 65 per cent of all doctorate degrees awarded to black students.

The percentage of black students attending college has increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent from 1976 to 2012, while the percentage of white students fell from 84 to 60 per cent.

By both race and gender, a higher percentage of black women (9.7 per cent) is enrolled in college than any other group, including Asian women (8.7 per cent), white women (7.1 per cent) and white men (6.1 per cent).

The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Show all 15 1 /15 The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Angela Merkel - German Chancellor German Chancellor Angela Merkel has retained her number one ranking for topping this year’s Forbes list for the fifth consecutive year and ten times in total. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Hillary Clinton - Presidential candidate, United States Clinton, who could become the world’s most powerful leader in 2016, has been featured on the list every year since it launched in 2014. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Melinda Gates - Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda Gates has cemented her dominance in philanthropy and global development to the tune of $3.9 billion in giving in 2014 and more than $33 billion in grant payments since she founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband in 2000. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Janet Yellen - Chair, Federal Reserve, Washington, United States Janet Yellen made history in 2014 when she became the first female head of the Federal Reserve. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Marry Barra - CEO of General Motors Mary Barra made history by becoming the first female CEO of General Motors. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Christina Lagarde - Managing director, International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde is entering the last year of her first term heading the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the organisation which serves as economic advisor and backstop for 188 countries. Under Lagarde the IMF has supported efforts to increase female labor force participation as way to reduce poverty and inequality. The UK, Germany, China, France and Korea have endorsed Christine Lagarde for another term as the head of the IMF. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Dilma Rousseff - President, Brazil Dilma Rousseff, who has been elected in 2010, is Brazil's first female president. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Sheryl Sandberg - COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of bestseller “Lean In,” joined the company in 2008 and became the first woman on its board four years later. Sandberg helped the social network go public and expand digital revenue. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Susan Wojcicki - CEO of Youtube Susan Wojcicki is CEO of YouTube, the world’s most popular digital video platform used by over a billion people across the globe. She oversees YouTube's content and business operations, engineering, and product development. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Michelle Obama - First lady, United States Michelle Obama, the 44th first lady of the United States has focused her attention on issues such as the support of military families, helping working women balance career and family and encouraging national service. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Park Geun-hye - President, South Korea Park Geun-hye is the first female leader of a country that has the highest level of gender inequality in the developed world. In her inauguration speech, she promised to prioritise both national security and economic revitalisation. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Oprah Winfrey - Actress, Director/Producer, Entrepreneur, Personality, Philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, a former queen of daytime TV has proven she can thrive without a talkshow. Her 'The Life You Want' tour sold out stadiums from Newark to Seattle in 2014. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Ginni Rometty - CEO of IBM Ginni Rometty joined IBM in 1981 and later became the first woman to lead the company. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Meg Whitman - CEO of Hewlett-Packard Meg Whitman is the only woman to have headed two large U.S. public companies: eBay and Hewlett-Packard.Until Marissa Mayer's arrival at Yahoo, she was the only female head of a leading Internet-based company. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Indra Nooyi - CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo. Mrs. Nooyi leads one of the world’s largest convenient food and beverage companies, with 2008 annual revenues of more than $43 billion.

However, a recent study found black women make up just 8 per cent of private sector jobs and 1.5 per cent of leadership roles.

When it comes to the public sector, a quarter of state legislators are women, but less than a quarter of those are women of colour.

Catalyst found in 2014 that Asian, black, and Hispanic women make up 17 per cent of workers in S&P 500 companies, but fewer than four per cent of executive officials and managers.