Women in the workplace remain highly ambitious and are, in fact, just as ambitious as men at nearly every stage of the pipeline, revealed a new study.
Additionally, women who work hybrid or remotely have no drop in ambition, revealed the research carried out by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company. The ninth annual Women in the Workplace report, the largest study on the state of women in corporate America, revealed that 96% of women say their career is important to them and 81% are interested in being promoted to the next level; same as men.
Women directors aspire to senior leadership just as much as men at the same level. In fact, nine in 10 women under the age of 30 want to be promoted to the next level, and three in four aspire to become senior leaders. Additionally, women of colour continue to be highly ambitious, as we’ve seen in past years. Around 97% say that their career is important to them, and 88% want to be promoted to the next level.
According to the report, flexibility unlocks ambitious women’s career aspirations. Women who work hybrid or remotely are equally committed to their careers and equally as ambitious as women and men who work on-site. Women say reduced fatigue and burnout is one of the biggest benefits of remote and hybrid work.
These findings also debunks common and damaging myths about women at work. For example, The biggest barrier to women’s advancement is the “glass ceiling.” In reality, the “broken rung” continues to be the greatest barrier women face on the path to senior leadership, noted the report.
STATE OF WOMEN AT WORK
The report also revealed that despite hard-fought gains at the top, women’s representation is not progressing fast enough. Women’s representation in the C-suite has grown to 28%, the highest it’s ever been, and there’s been strong progress at VP and SVP levels.
These are notable but fragile gains without sustained improvements throughout the pipeline. The “Great Breakup” we discovered last year, where women leaders left companies at the highest rates we’d ever seen and at higher rates than men leaders, continued for women at the director level, the group next in line for senior leadership positions. Women of colour remain underrepresented at every stage of the pipeline and make up only 6% of the C-suite.
Another myth is women’s ambition is declining, and flexible work is mostly to blame. However, in reality, women are more ambitious than before the pandemic, and workplace flexibility is powering that ambition.
THE BROKEN RUNG
This year, for every 100 men promoted from the entry level to manager, 87 women and only 73 women of colour are promoted. The broken rung holds back Black women and Latinas the most. For every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, only 54 Black women and 76 Latinas are promoted. Not surprisingly, more women getting stuck at the entry level has a long-term impact on the talent pipeline; it means women can never catch up.
The main myth in this case is that microaggressions have a “micro” impact. However, in reality, microaggressions have a large and lasting impact on women.
MICROAGGRESSIONS AT WORK
Years of data show that women experience microaggressions at a significantly higher rate than men, making the workplace a mental minefield for many women. Nearly half of women experience microaggressions at work that call their competence and abilities into question. Women are twice as likely as men to be interrupted and hear comments on their emotional state.
Women are also 1.5x more likely than men to have a colleague take credit for their work. And for women with traditionally marginalised identities, these slights happen more often and are even more demeaning. For example, Asian and Black women are over 3x more likely than women overall to be confused with someone of the same race and ethnicity.
Most women (78%) who face microaggressions self-shield at work, adjusting the way they look or act in an effort to protect themselves. Women who experience microaggressions and self-shield are more than three times more likely to think about quitting their jobs and struggle with burnout than those who don’t.
WOMEN WITH MARGINALISED IDENTITIES
Nearly a third of women don’t speak up or share an opinion so they don’t seem difficult, compared to about a fifth of men overall. This is worse for women with marginalised identities:
- Almost 50% of women with disabilities
- About 40% of Black women and LGBTQ+ women
- Women with marginalized identities often code-switch to blend in compared to men, who code-switch less than 10% of the time:
- Almost 40% of Black women
- Almost 30% of LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities
Additionally, one out of four women feel like they have to perform perfectly to avoid scrutiny or judgment compared to 15% of men overall:
- Over 40% of women with disabilities
- Over 30% of Black women and LGBTQ+ women
The common myth at play here is that it’s mostly women who want – and benefit from – flexibility. But in reality, both men and women see flexibility as a “top 3” employee benefit and critical to their company’s success.
FLEXIBLE BENEFITS
Employees place a high premium on flexibility and believe it is core to the future of work, ranking it even higher than employee benefits such as parental leave and childcare, with healthcare benefits ranked as most important. Half of women and a third of men point to “offering significant flexibility in when and where employees work” as a top factor in their company’s future success.
Most notably, women are now far more likely to feel set up to succeed when they work remotely than two years ago: 32% this year versus 10% in 2021. Remote and hybrid work deliver important benefits for women and men. The study revealed that:
- More than 80% of remote workers – men and women – and about 70% of hybrid workers feel more efficient and productive.
- Women and men agree that remote and hybrid work make balancing work/life easier (over 80% of women and 79% of men).
- Over half of men and women working remotely or hybrid say they experience less burnout and fatigue.
- Half of women and a third of men feel less pressure to manage personal style of appearance when working remotely; similar for hybrid workers.
- Mothers place a particularly high premium on flexibility. Without flexibility, 57% of mothers with young children say they would have to leave their company or reduce their work hours.
ON-SITE BENEFITS
The report also revealed how on-site work also delivers benefits. Approximately two-thirds of employees who work on-site point to an easier time collaborating and a stronger personal connection to co-workers as the biggest benefits of working on-site. However, it’s worth noting that:
- Men are benefiting disproportionately from on-site work. Compared to women, men report they are more “in the know,” more likely to receive the mentorship and sponsorship they need, and feel connected to their organisation’s mission and their work.
- The culture of on-site work appears to be falling short: while 77% of companies believe a strong organisational culture is a key benefit of on-site work, only 37% of employees say this.
This year’s report, based on data from more than 270 companies and more than 27,000 employees, aims to break down four myths about women’s experiences at work by providing data-driven insights into the challenges they face at each step on the corporate ladder. The complete Women in the Workplace 2023 report, including solutions that organizations can implement to make meaningful progress toward gender equality, is available here.
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