For women who set the uppermost leadership positions in their sights, there’s no clear path to the top. “Some of the biggest barriers are cultural and related to unconscious biases that impact company hiring, promotion, and development processes”.
Advertisement
Above: Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook.
For instance, a company may say gender diversity is important, but it needs to do more to foster it. “This data creates a road map to faster progress for women in the workplace”. More than 90 percent of women and men believe taking advantage of an extended family leave will end up hurting their career. This points to another possible explanation for the leadership ambition gap: The path to senior positions is disproportionately stressful for women.
The study pointed out many other disconnects between what corporate leaders espouse and what the rank and file believes. In contrast, a majority of men hold line roles at every level. Women in staff-support roles are more likely to advance in their departments than those in line roles-and it’s line roles that are more likely overall to lead to C-suite positions, since they provide necessary experience in the company’s main operations. While almost three quarters (74%) of companies assert that their CEO is making gender diversity a priority, the staff at these organizations aren’t getting the message. At every stage, women are less eager than men to become a top executive.
Women were more likely than men to cite stress as a career obstacle, the study found. That’s not surprising, Thomas said.
The report points to two trends that stand in the way of women ascending to leadership.
Women are four times more likely than men to think they have fewer opportunities to advance due to their gender. The difference between the genders comes when aspiring to the top spot.
And among all respondents, only a third think gender diversity is a top priority for their direct manager.
Employee programs are abundant, but participation is low.
Women in senior-level jobs were less satisfied with their careers than men. There is evidence that employees are reluctant to participate for fear of being penalized. About 28 per cent of senior-level women said they were very happy with their careers, compared with 40 per cent of men. But it could be just as useful as a guide for rank-and-file women trying to understand their options and avoid the stumbling blocks of the current corporate landscape.
Advertisement
There is still inequality at home. If employees see real, measurable gender inequities in their organization, they will be more likely to work toward solutions. Considering the racial discrepancies at the highest levels of business leadership, it’s possible that straight-up discrimination holds women of color back even more than we thought.
