Women in the Workplace study
The state of women in Corporate America
Women in the Workplace is the largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America. LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company have published this report annually since 2015 to give companies the information they need to advance women and improve gender diversity. Over the past eight years, we have collected information from almost 600 organizations employing more than 20 million people.
Explore the complete collection of our research and findings below to learn more.
We’re in the midst of a “Great Breakup”.
Women are setting a new standard for leadership.
Corporate America is at a critical crossroads.
The “broken rung” is the biggest obstacle women face.
Women are leaning in. Now companies need to lean in, too.
Explore eight years of Women in the Workplace
Women in the Workplace
Key Findings
We’re in the midst of a “Great Breakup”
Women are demanding more from work, and they’re leaving their companies in unprecedented numbers to get it.
Companies have a new pipeline problem
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about why women leaders are leaving their companies.
Read the reportIn the past year, women leaders have switched jobs at the highest rates we’ve ever seen—and at higher rates than men in leadership. This could have serious implications for companies. Women are already significantly underrepresented in leadership. For years, fewer women have risen through the ranks because of the “broken rung” at the first step up to management. Now, companies are struggling to hold onto the relatively few women leaders they have. And all of these dynamics are even more pronounced for women of color.
Key Findings:
- Women are still dramatically underrepresented in leadership: only 1 in 4 C-suite executives is a woman, and only 1 in 20 is a woman of color.
- The “broken rung” is still holding women back: for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, only 87 women are promoted, and only 82 women of color are promoted.
- Now, women leaders are leaving their companies at higher rates than ever before. To put the scale of the problem in perspective: for every woman at the director level who gets promoted, two women directors are choosing to leave their company.
Women leaders want to advance, but they face stronger headwinds
Women leaders are as likely as men at their level to want to be promoted and aspire to senior-level roles. In many companies, however, they experience microaggressions that undermine their authority and signal that it will be harder for them to advance—such as having colleagues question their judgment or imply that they aren’t qualified for their jobs.
Key Findings:
- Among employees who switched jobs in the past two years, 48% of women leaders say they did so because they wanted more opportunity to advance.
- 37% of women leaders have had a coworker get credit for their idea, compared to 27% of men leaders.
- Women leaders are 2X as likely as men leaders to be mistaken for someone more junior.
“I’ve asked many times what I can do to get promoted, and I don’t get a good answer. I’m thinking of leaving. And it will be my company’s loss since they didn’t offer me the opportunity to advance. I hit a ceiling that didn’t need to be there.”
Women leaders are overworked and under-recognized
Compared to men at their level, women leaders do more to support employee well-being and promote DEI—work that improves retention and employee satisfaction, but is not formally rewarded in most companies. Spending time and energy on work that isn’t recognized makes it harder for women leaders to advance, and may partly explain why they are more burned out.
Key Findings:
- Women leaders are about 1.5X as likely as men leaders to have switched jobs because their workload was unmanageable.
- Women leaders are 2X as likely as men leaders to spend substantial time on DEI work, and 40% of women leaders say their DEI work isn’t acknowledged at all in performance reviews.
- 43% of women leaders are burned out, compared to only 31% of men at their level.
“Burnout from management responsibilities and unsustainable workload has made me more ambitious, but not in the same way. I’m more ambitious about going after something different. I’m more ambitious about making a career change or going after something where I feel more fulfilled.”
Women leaders want to see a seismic shift in the culture of work
Women leaders are significantly more likely than men leaders to leave their jobs because they want more flexibility or because they want to work for a company that is more committed to employee well-being and diversity, equity, and inclusion—and many women leaders say these factors have become more important to them over the past two years.
Key Findings:
- Women leaders are about 1.5X as likely as men leaders to have switched jobs because they wanted more flexibility or wanted to work for a company that was more committed to DEI.
- 49% of women leaders say flexibility is one of the top three things they consider when deciding whether to join or stay with a company, compared to 34% of men leaders.
“I think people have come through the pandemic feeling a bit more empowered. We’ve realized that being in a toxic environment where you’re not happy is just not worth it.”
Companies are also at risk of losing young women
The factors that drive women leaders to leave their companies are even more important to young women. Young women care deeply about opportunity to advance—more than two thirds of women under 30 want to be senior leaders, and well over half say advancement has become more important to them in the past two years. Young women are also more likely than women leaders to say they’re increasingly prioritizing flexibility and company commitment to well-being and DEI.
Key Findings:
- 58% of women under 30 say advancement has become more important to them in the past two years.
- More than two-thirds of women under 30 say they care more than they did two years ago about flexibility and company commitment to well-being.
Connect and support the women at your company
This year’s Women in the Workplace report clearly shows that up-and-coming women leaders want more opportunity to advance and a more supportive and inclusive work culture. Lean In’s Circles for Companies program can help. Circles bring women together for peer mentorship, camaraderie, and skill building—so they can go further, together.
Bring Circles to your companyWomen with traditionally marginalized identities continue to have worse experiences
Key Findings:
- Latinas and Black women are significantly less likely than women of other races and ethnicities to report their manager regularly shows interest in their career development.
- Asian women and Black women are less likely than women of other races and ethnicities to say that someone in a more senior role has publicly praised their accomplishments or advocated for a compensation increase for them.
- LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities are subjected to more demeaning and “othering” microaggressions, such as having colleagues comment on their appearance or tell them that they “look mad” or “should smile more.”
- Women with disabilities are far more likely to have their judgment questioned in their area of expertise and be mistaken for someone more junior.
Many women experience workplace bias not only because of their gender, but also because of their race, sexual orientation, a disability, or other aspects of their identity—and the compounded discrimination can be significantly greater than the sum of its parts. As a result, these groups of women often experience more microaggressions and face more barriers to advancement.
Explore intersectional experiences
Learn more about how compounding and intersecting biases affect women’s experiences at work.
Get the factsRemote work has been game-changing for women
A vast majority of women prefer remote or hybrid work to being fully on-site—and this preference is about more than flexibility. When women work remotely, they experience fewer microaggressions and higher levels of psychological safety. The decrease in microaggressions is especially pronounced for women of color, LGBTQ+ women, and women with disabilities—groups who typically face more demeaning and othering behavior.
Key Findings:
- Only 1 in 10 women want to work mostly on-site, and many women point to remote and hybrid work options as one of their top reasons for joining or staying with an organization.
- Women of color and women with disabilities are about 1.5X as likely to experience demeaning and “othering” microaggressions when they work mostly on-site as opposed to mostly remotely.
“Some microaggressions just 100% don’t happen when I’m remote. A lot of people have said I should be worried about not having face time, but there’s another perspective, which is that people of color don’t want to be in a work environment where they don’t feel like they can be themselves.”
There’s a growing gap between what’s expected of managers, and how they’re trained and rewarded
A vast majority of companies say managers have been expected to do more people management and DEI work over the past two years, but relatively few are training managers to meet these new demands or recognizing people management and DEI efforts in managers’ performance reviews. This disconnect is apparent in the way managers show up—only about half of women say their manager regularly encourages respectful behavior on their team, and less than half say their manager shows interest in their career and helps them manage their workload. Companies urgently need to close this gap—manager support is deeply important to all employees, and it’s one of the top three factors women consider when deciding whether to join or stay with a company.
Key Findings:
- 78% of companies say managers have been expected to do more over the last two years to support employee well-being, and 80% say managers have been expected to do more to promote inclusion on their teams.
- Only 40% of women say their manager helps them manage their workload, and only 44% say their manager regularly shows interest in their career.
- Less than half of companies provide training for managers on how to minimize employee burnout and make sure promotions are equitable.
Make your company an inclusive workplace
Managers play a critical role in shaping women’s work experiences, but they’re not getting the training they need to build diverse, inclusive, and supportive teams. Lean In’s company programs can help close this gap. 50 Ways to Fight Bias teaches employees how to recognize and challenge the biases women experience at work, and includes specific, research-backed recommendations for leaders and managers. Allyship at Work empowers employees at all levels to take meaningful action as allies and foster inclusion
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Women in the Workplace
key findings
In a year of incredible disruption, women are setting a new standard for leadership
A year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, women have made important gains in representation. But the pandemic continues to take a toll.
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about the impact of Covid-19 on women at work.
Read the reportWomen are now significantly more burned out—and increasingly more so than men. There is also a concerning disconnect between companies’ growing commitment to racial equity and the lack of improvement we see in the day-to-day experiences of women of color.
Despite these headwinds, women are rising to the moment as better leaders. Compared to men at the same levels, women leaders are stronger people managers and more active champions of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Yet this critical work is going unrecognized and unrewarded by most companies, and that has serious implications. Companies risk losing the very leaders they need right now, and it’s hard to imagine organizations navigating the pandemic and building inclusive workplaces if this work isn’t truly prioritized.
The impact of the last year and a half on women is far from clear. But the risks to women—and the companies that depend on their leadership—are still very real.
SECTION I
Women Are Setting a New Standard for Leadership
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn how women are setting a new standard of leadership.
Read the reportAt a time when the stakes have never been higher, women are showing up as better people-focused leaders and stronger advocates for DEI. They are more likely than men at their levels to take consistent steps to promote employee well-being, such as checking in on their team members and helping them manage their workloads. They are also more likely to support DEI initiatives and to be active allies to women of color. But although this work drives better outcomes for all employees, it is going largely overlooked by companies. There’s a risk that it will be relegated to a new form of “office housework”—work that is critical to the business but not compensated—and in most organizations, what gets rewarded is what gets prioritized.
Key Findings
- Senior-level women are twice as likely as senior-level men to spend substantial time on DEI work that falls outside their formal job responsibilities.
- Eighty-six percent of companies say it’s “very or extremely” critical that managers support their team members’ well-being, but only 25 percent formally recognize those who do this—and a similar trend holds for DEI work.
- When managers take action to promote employee well-being and companies prioritize DEI, employees are happier, less burned out, and less likely to consider leaving their company.
“We’re working on DEI after hours in the evenings, on weekends, and on vacation. And there’s no formal recognition of all the effort.”
SECTION II
The workplace is still worse for women of color
Despite increased focus on DEI and racial equity in corporate America, we see little improvement in the day-to-day experiences of women of color. Women of color face similar types and relative frequencies of microaggressions as they did two years ago—and they are far more likely than white women to be on the receiving end of disrespectful and “othering” behavior. And while more white employees see themselves as allies to women of color, they are no more likely than last year to speak out against discrimination, mentor or sponsor women of color, or take other actions to advocate for them. This points to the critical need for businesses to equip employees at all levels to challenge bias and show up as allies.
Key Findings
- Women of color are two to three times as likely as white women to hear colleagues express surprise at their language skills or other abilities.
- 1 in 8 women of color is a “double Only”—often the only woman and the only person of their race in the room—and they are far more likely than other women to experience microaggressions.
- Seventy-seven percent of white employees consider themselves allies to women of color, but only 39 percent confront discrimination when they see it, and only 21 percent advocate for new opportunities for women of color.
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about the challenges women of color face at work.
Read the report“The average person has no idea about the stress that women and people of color carry. They have no idea about the small ways that women and people of color get humiliated, that make them feel undermined or made to feel smaller than they are. It happens all the time.”
The path forward is clear
Companies need to take bold steps to address burnout. They need to do the deep cultural work required to create a workplace where all women feel valued. And they need to recognize and reward the women leaders who are driving progress.
Advancing DEI
How companies can advance diversity and inclusion
To drive change, companies need to invest deeply in all aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To improve representation of all women across the pipeline, companies need to double down on reducing bias in reviews and promotions, and they need to hold leaders and managers accountable for progress. But diversity in numbers isn’t enough. Companies also need to create a culture that fully leverages the benefits of diversity—one in which women, and all employees, feel comfortable bringing their unique ideas, perspectives, and experiences to the table.
Key Findings
- More than 90 percent of companies track women’s overall representation, but only 65 percent track gender differences in promotion rates.
- Almost 70 percent of companies hold senior leaders accountable for progress on diversity goals—but only 30 percent hold managers, who play a critical role in hiring and promotion decisions, accountable.
- Only 34 percent of employees have participated in anti-racism training in the past year, and just 14 percent have received allyship training.
Advancing allyship at work
It’s clear from this year’s report that there's a gap between intent and action when it comes to allyship. LeanIn.Org's new Allyship at Work program is designed to close this gap and empower employees to take meaningful action as allies. Ninety-four percent of program participants feel more equipped to practice allyship and would recommend the program to a colleague.
Find out why organizations like Adidas, Walmart, and WeWork are using the program and how you can bring it to your company at leanin.org/allyshipatwork.
Employee well-being
How companies can begin to address burnout
As companies embrace flexibility, they also need to set clear boundaries
Most companies have expanded flexibility to help employees get through the pandemic—and it’s making a difference. However, many companies are missing a crucial piece: without clear boundaries, flexible work can quickly turn into 24/7 work. Companies need to put guardrails in place so employees don’t feel they’re “always on,” and managers need to model work/life boundaries and more actively support employee well-being.
Key Findings
- More than three quarters of senior HR leaders say allowing employees to work flexible hours is one of the most effective things they’ve done to improve employee well-being over the past year.
- Thirty-seven percent of employees feel like they need to be available for work 24/7—and employees who feel this way are twice as likely as those who don’t to be burned out.
- Only 1 in 3 employees has received guidance around blocking off personal time on their calendars, and only 1 in 5 has been told they don’t need to respond to non-urgent requests outside of work hours.
Explore our Company resources
Women in the Workplace
key findings
Corporate America is at a critical crossroads.
A crisis is looming in corporate America.
The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted corporate America in ways we’ve never seen before. No one is experiencing business as usual, but women—especially mothers, senior-level women and Black women—are facing distinct challenges.
One in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to Covid-19. Without bold steps, companies could lose millions of women and erase all the progress we’ve made toward gender diversity in the six years of this study.
Learn more about how Covid-19 has impacted working mothers, senior-level women, and Black women below—and read the report for a framework for taking action.
Working Mothers
Covid-19 could push many mothers out of the workforce
As they take on heavier burdens at home, mothers worry they’ll be judged more harshly at work.
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about the impact of Covid-19 on working mothers.
Read the reportWorking mothers were already working a “double shift” before Covid-19. Now, they’re doing even more housework and childcare—and they’re concerned that their performance will be judged negatively as a result. Unfortunately, they may be right to worry.
There’s long been a false perception that mothers can’t be truly invested in both family and work, and are therefore less committed to their jobs than fathers and women without children. Now that family demands are front and center, that bias could be strengthened.
Key Findings
- Mothers are 3 times as likely as fathers to be responsible for most of their family’s housework and childcare during Covid-19.
- Mothers are more than twice as likely as fathers to worry that their performance is being judged negatively due to their caregiving responsibilities.
- 3 in 10 mothers have considered downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce because of Covid-19, and mothers are far more likely than fathers to think about taking these steps.
“I don’t talk about my caregiving responsibilities with my boss. Women with children always have some stigma attached to them in the workplace. People might think I don’t work as hard because I have children. I never want that stigma to be attached to me and my work.”
Senior-level women
Companies are at risk of losing women in leadership
Senior-level women are experiencing the same pressures as senior-level men—and then some.
The Covid-19 crisis has created unprecedented challenges for company leaders. But it’s been especially difficult for senior-level women. Compared to men at the same level, women leaders tend to have less support at home, are often held to higher performance standards, and are more likely to feel pressure to work more during Covid-19. Not surprisingly, they are also more likely to consider leaving the workforce due to burnout—if that happens, women at all levels will lose their most powerful allies and champions.
Key Findings
- More than a third of senior-level women have consistently felt pressured to work more during the pandemic, compared to just over a quarter of senior-level men.
- Senior-level women are 1.5 times as likely as senior-level men to think about downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce because of Covid-19, and almost 3 in 4 cite burnout as a primary reason.
- 38 percent of senior-level women currently mentor or sponsor one or more women of color, compared to only 23 percent of senior-level men.
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about the challenges senior-level women are facing.
Read the report“There was a pressure I personally felt leading a 200-person team. For all of them, I had to solve basic questions like, ‘Does everyone have laptops?’ and make major safety calls like, ‘Everybody, get home.’ I felt a personal responsibility to take care of my team and make sure that they weren’t scared, that they had marching orders, and that they had guidance on the state of our business.”
Black women
Black women are less likely to feel supported at work during Covid-19
Black women are being disproportionately impacted by the difficult events of 2020.
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about the challenges senior-level women are facing.
Read the reportBlack women already faced more barriers than most other groups of employees. Now they’re also coping with the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on Black communities and the emotional toll of heightened focus on racial violence. And for many, work is not a supportive place; Black women get less support from managers, are less likely to have strong allies, and are more likely to feel like they can’t bring their whole selves to work.
Key Findings
- More than 90 percent of companies track women’s overall representation, but only 65 percent track gender differences in promotion rates.
- Almost 70 percent of companies hold senior leaders accountable for progress on diversity goals—but only 30 percent hold managers, who play a critical role in hiring and promotion decisions, accountable.
- Only 34 percent of employees have participated in anti-racism training in the past year, and just 14 percent have received allyship training.
“There was a real silence after George Floyd happened. And I felt like that silence ripped open a wound that I didn’t realize had been so deep. What was disappointing, and what I heard from multiple Black colleagues was, ‘I have all these people who I work with every single day who I think care about me. But that week we were mourning as a community, and no one reached out. No one said a word.’”
Companies need to take bold steps to make work more sustainable and inclusive
Companies are taking important steps to support employees during Covid-19. But most aren’t doing enough to get at the crux of the problem for most women—namely burnout—or to address the distinct challenges that Black women and other women of color are facing.
A framework for action
Success will look different for different organizations, but all companies should consider steps like:
-
1
Adjusting performance expectations
Including goals, deadlines, and performance review criteria, to account for the challenges of the pandemic.
-
2
Establishing new norms for remote work
Such as limiting hours for meetings and encouraging employees to set work-life boundaries, so employees don’t feel like they are “always on.”
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3
Educating employees on gender bias
Including how it may be amplified during Covid-19 and what colleagues and managers can do to combat it.
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4
Providing allyship and anti-racism training
So employees understand how to combat racial discrimination and show up as allies for their Black colleagues.
Companies need to challenge bias against women at work
The pandemic may be amplifying biases women have faced for years: higher performance standards, harsher judgment for mistakes, and penalties for being mothers and for taking advantage of flexible work options. And Black women, who have always faced double discrimination at work, are bearing an even heavier burden due to the impacts of Covid-19 and racist violence on the Black community. To learn more about what your company can do visit leanin.org/50ways.
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Special edition reports
These reports cover the key trends and common themes that we've seen in our research through the years
Women in the Workplace
key findings
The “broken rung” is the biggest obstacle women face
To get to gender parity, companies need to focus their efforts at the first step up to manager.
GENDER REPRESENTATION IN THE CORPORATE PIPELINE
Over the past five years, the number of women in senior leadership has grown. Still, women continue to be underrepresented at every level.
The biggest obstacle women face
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about the “broken rung”, and what companies can do to fix it.
Read the reportConventional wisdom says that women hit a “glass ceiling” as they advance that prevents them from reaching senior leadership positions. In reality, the biggest obstacle that women face is the first step up to manager, or the “broken rung.” This broken rung results in more women getting stuck at the entry level and fewer women becoming managers. As a result, there are significantly fewer women to advance to higher levels. To get to gender parity across the entire pipeline, companies must fix the broken rung.
The impact of the last year and a half on women is far from clear. But the risks to women—and the companies that depend on their leadership—are still very real.
KEY DATA
- Women are less likely to be hired and promoted to manager: For every 100 men promoted and hired to manager, only 72 women are promoted and hired.
- Men hold 62% of manager-level positions, while women hold just 38%. The number of women decreases at every subsequent level.
- One third of companies set gender representation targets for first-level manager roles, compared to 41% for senior levels of management.
- We can add 1 million more women to management in corporate America over the next five years if women are hired and promoted to manager at the same rates as men.
Fairness and opportunity
When employees feel they have equal opportunity to advance and think the system is fair, they are happier with their career, plan to stay at their company longer, and are more likely to recommend it as a great place to work. We looked at a number of factors that prior research has shown influence employee satisfaction and retention—including leadership accountability and manager support—and together opportunity and fairness stand out by far as the strongest predictors.
KEY DATA
- Together, opportunity and fairness are the strongest predictors of employee satisfaction. Across demographic groups, employees universally value opportunity and fairness.
- Only 6 of the 3231 companies have a full range of best practices in place to support inclusive and unbiased hiring and promotions.
- 1 in 4 women think their gender has played a role in missing out on a raise, promotion or chance to get ahead.
- Everyone benefits from opportunity and fairness. Diversity efforts are about ensuring employees of all genders, races, and backgrounds have access to the same opportunities.
Women’s experiences are not universal
Women’s experiences are often shaped by other aspects of their identity. Women of color, lesbian and bisexual women, and women with disabilities are having distinct—and by and large worse—experiences than women overall. Most notably, Black women and women with disabilities face more barriers to advancement, get less support from managers, and receive less sponsorship than other groups of women.
KEY DATA
- Black women and women with disabilities face more barriers to advancement and get less support than other groups of women.
- Women with disabilities face far more everyday discrimination like having their judgment questioned, being interrupted, or having their ideas co-opted.
- Lesbian women, bisexual women, and women with disabilities are far more likely than other women to hear demeaning remarks about themselves or others like them.
- Commitment to racial diversity is similar to commitment to gender diversity: 77% of companies, 59% of managers, and 56% of employees say it is a high priority.
Challenging bias in the workplace
At a time when the stakes have never been higher, women are showing up as better people-focused leaders and stronger advocates for DEI. They are more likely than men at their levels to take consistent steps to promote employee well-being, such as checking in on their team members and helping them manage their workloads. They are also more likely to support DEI initiatives and to be active allies to women of color. But although this work drives better outcomes for all employees, it is going largely overlooked by companies. There’s a risk that it will be relegated to a new form of “office housework”—work that is critical to the business but not compensated—and in most organizations, what gets rewarded is what gets prioritized.
Learn about 50 ways to Fight Bias
KEY DATA
- 33% of women and 11% of men say they have seen or heard biased behavior toward women.
- 73% of women report experiencing microaggressions—or everyday discrimination—which is rooted in bias.
- Only about a third of employees who’ve seen bias over the past year spoke up personally to challenge it—and less than a quarter say someone else did.
- Only 32% of women and 50% of men believe disrespectful behavior toward women is often quickly addressed by their company.
This year, we collected information from 329 organizations employing 13 million people and surveyed more than 68,500 employees to better understand their day-to-day work experiences.
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Women in the Workplace
key findings
Women are leaning in. Now companies need to lean in, too.
Explore Women in the Workplace
Read the full report to learn more about the state of women in corporate America.
Read the reportCompanies continue to report they are highly committed to gender diversity; yet women continue to be vastly underrepresented at every level. For women of color, it’s even worse. Only about one in five senior leaders is a woman, and one in twenty-five is a woman of color.
Women are doing their part. They’ve been earning more bachelor’s degrees than men for decades. They’re asking for promotions and negotiating salaries at the same rates as men. And contrary to conventional wisdom, they are staying in the workforce at the same rate as men.
Progress isn’t just slow—it’s stalled.
Those are some of the findings from Women in the Workplace 2018, our fourth annual study on the state of women in corporate America. Conducted by LeanIn.Org, in partnership with McKinsey & Company, it is the largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America. This year, 279 companies employing more than 13 million people shared their pipeline data and completed a survey of their HR practices. In addition, more than 64,000 employees were surveyed on their workplace experiences, and we interviewed women of different races and ethnicities and LGBTQ women for additional insights.
Women remain significantly underrepresented
Since 2015, the first year of this study, corporate America has made almost no progress in improving women’s representation. From the outset, fewer women than men are hired at the entry level. And at every subsequent step, the representation of women further declines. Women of color are the most underrepresented group of all—behind white men, men of color, and white women.
And for the fourth year in a row, attrition does not explain the problem. Women and men are leaving their companies at similar rates, and they have similar intentions to remain in the workforce.
Women are left behind from the get-go
The two biggest drivers of representation are hiring and promotions, and companies are disadvantaging women in these areas from the beginning. Although women earn more bachelor’s degrees than men, and have for decades, they are less likely to be hired into entry-level jobs.
At the first critical step up to manager, the disparity widens further. Women are less likely to be hired into manager-level jobs, and they are far less likely to be promoted into them—for every one hundred men promoted to manager, seventy-nine women are. Largely because of these gender gaps, men end up holding 62% of manager positions, while women hold only 38%.
If companies continue to hire and promote women to manager at current rates, the number of women in management will increase by just one percentage point over the next ten years. But if companies start hiring and promoting women and men to manager at equal rates, we should get close to parity in management—48% women versus 52% men—over the same ten years.
Women still experience an uneven playing field
Based on this year’s survey of more than 64,000 employees, it is clear that women still experience an uneven playing field. They get less day-to-day support and less access to senior leaders. They are more likely to deal with harassment and everyday discrimination. They often feel the added scrutiny that comes from being the only woman in the room. And understandably, they think it’s harder for them to advance.
Women of color and lesbian women face even more biases and barriers to advancement—as do all women who deal with compounding biases because of their identity, background, or beliefs.
Everyday discrimination is a workplace reality
Everyday sexism and racism—also known as microaggressions—can take many forms. Some can be subtle, like when a person mistakenly assumes a coworker is more junior than they really are. Some are more explicit, like when a person says something demeaning to a coworker. Whether intentional or unintentional, microaggressions signal disrespect. They also reflect inequality—while anyone can be on the receiving end of disrespectful behavior, microaggressions are more often directed at those with less power, such as women, people of color, and LGBTQ people.
“I was in the elevator and pressed the button for the executive office. Someone said to me, ‘Um, no honey. That’s for the executive offices. The interns are going to this floor.”
For 64% of women, microaggressions are a workplace reality. Most commonly, women have to provide more evidence of their competence than men and they have their judgment questioned in their area of expertise. They are also twice as likely as men to have been mistaken for someone in a more junior position. Black women, in particular, deal with a greater variety of microaggressions and are more likely than other women to have their judgment questioned in their area of expertise and be asked to provide additional evidence of their competence.
Lesbian women experience further slights: 71% have dealt with microaggressions. The nature of these encounters is often different for them: lesbian women are far more likely than other women to hear demeaning remarks in the workplace about themselves or others like them. They are also far more likely to feel like they cannot talk about their personal lives at work.
These negative experiences add up. As their name suggests, microaggressions can seem small when dealt with one by one. But when repeated over time, they can have a major impact: women who experience microaggressions view their workplaces as less fair and are three times more likely to regularly think about leaving their job than women who don’t.
“I’ve had a couple of bosses who have made me feel that I shouldn’t talk about my wife. I’ve responded, ‘I’m just being me. You get to talk about your wife all the time, I’m going to talk about mine too. I shouldn’t be held to a different standard.”
Companies need to create a safe and respectful work environment
For 64% of women, microaggressions are a workplace reality. Most commonly, women have to provide more evidence of their competence than men and they have their judgment questioned in their area of expertise. They are also twice as likely as men to have been mistaken for someone in a more junior position. Black women, in particular, deal with a greater variety of microaggressions and are more likely than other women to have their judgment questioned in their area of expertise and be asked to provide additional evidence of their competence.
Lesbian women experience further slights: 71% have dealt with microaggressions. The nature of these encounters is often different for them: lesbian women are far more likely than other women to hear demeaning remarks in the workplace about themselves or others like them. They are also far more likely to feel like they cannot talk about their personal lives at work.
These negative experiences add up. As their name suggests, microaggressions can seem small when dealt with one by one. But when repeated over time, they can have a major impact: women who experience microaggressions view their workplaces as less fair and are three times more likely to regularly think about leaving their job than women who don’t.
Being “the only one” is still a common experience for women
One in five women says they are often the only woman or one of the only women in the room at work—in other words, they are “Onlys.”1 This is twice as common for senior-level women and women in technical roles: around 40% of them are Onlys.
“I feel like I have to represent the entire race. I need to come across as more than proficient, more than competent, more than capable. I have to be ‘on’ all the time. Because in the back of someone’s mind, they could be judging the entire race based on me.”
Women who are Onlys are having a significantly worse experience than women who work with other women. Over 80% are on the receiving end of microaggressions, compared to 64% of women as a whole. They are more likely to have their abilities challenged, to be subjected to unprofessional and demeaning remarks, and to feel like they cannot talk about their personal lives at work. Most notably, women Onlys are almost twice as likely to have been sexually harassed at some point in their careers.
Being an Only also impacts the way women view their workplace. Compared to other women, women Onlys are less likely to think that the best opportunities go to the most deserving employees, promotions are fair and objective, and ideas are judged by their quality rather than who raised them. Not surprisingly, given the negative experiences and feelings associated with being the odd woman out, women Onlys are also 1.5 times more likely to think about leaving their job.
Change starts with treating gender diversity like the business priority it is
Based on this year’s survey of more than 64,000 employees, it is clear that women still experience an uneven playing field. They get less day-to-day support and less access to senior leaders. They are more likely to deal with harassment and everyday discrimination. They often feel the added scrutiny that comes from being the only woman in the room. And understandably, they think it’s harder for them to advance.
Women of color and lesbian women face even more biases and barriers to advancement—as do all women who deal with compounding biases because of their identity, background, or beliefs.
Everyday sexism and racism—also known as microaggressions—can take many forms. Some can be subtle, like when a person mistakenly assumes a coworker is more junior than they really are. Some are more explicit, like when a person says something demeaning to a coworker. Whether intentional or unintentional, microaggressions signal disrespect. They also reflect inequality—while anyone can be on the receiving end of disrespectful behavior, microaggressions are more often directed at those with less power, such as women, people of color, and LGBTQ people.
Read the complete Women in the Workplace 2018 report, including detailed findings and recommendations for change, here.
This is an edited abstract from Women in the Workplace 2018, a study undertaken by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey. It builds on the Women in the Workplace reports from 2015, 2016, and 2017, as well as similar research conducted by McKinsey in 2012.
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