Women still aren't getting ahead at work

Women still aren’t getting ahead at work, despite some gains in the C-suite

What you probably already know: While the share of women in C-suite positions has gone up in the last decade, the pipeline of younger women in entry-level and early manager-level positions that lead to upward mobility has stagnated. Women remain underrepresented in those areas and little has changed in 10 years, according to a new study released Tuesday by McKinsey and LeanIn.org. This year’s report included information from 281 organizations that employ more than 10 million people, and relied on surveys for 15,000 employees and 280 HR professionals.

Why? The report states quite clearly that “progress is not parity.” While women’s representation at all levels has improved — 29% of C-suite positions are held by women now compared to 17% a decade ago — men still outnumber women at ever level of the corporate ladder. At the entry level, there are fewer women, which naturally results in fewer women getting promoted and moving up. The study found that women are far less likely than men to get a promotion to a manager role, and that hasn’t really changed in the last 10 years. The report calls this the “broken rung” in the corporate ladder.

What it means: This issue is worse for women of color, who currently represent only 7% of C-suite positions, an increase of 4 percentage points since 2017. For Black and Latina women, things have gone backwards and promotion rates are actually lower this year than they were in 2020. The report points out that one of the main reasons companies added women into C-suite roles was because many companies added executives in human resources, legal and IT, and selected women for these staff roles. At this rate, the report suggests it would take 48 years for women to achieve parity.

What happens now? Companies need to address weak spots in their pipelines, the report says, and hold themselves accountable to make sure women have opportunities to move up. Providing support to caregivers, who are primarily women, as well as benefits that ensure women can remain in the workforce when they encounter health issues. The report also suggests workplace flexibility and remote work has been very good for women, and that when companies roll back those opportunities, like Amazon just did this week, women will suffer the consequences more than men.