PROMOTIONS ARE MOSTLY A GUY THING
Study shows women hit glass ceiling earlier, and it may be putting damper on ambition
Just as women are paid less than men for the same positions, women are less likely to be promoted, according to a new workplace study. A survey by consultancy McKinsey and Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn. org group found men are 30% more likely than women to be promoted from entry level to manager.
The result is a workforce with a nearly equal number of women and men at the entry level, but a widening gap as workers climb the ranks.
At the entry level, 54% are men and 46% are women. But at the manager level, 63% are men and 37% are women, and at the vice- president level 71% are men and 29% are women.
By the time they reach the C- suite— which includes positions such as chief financial officer and chief operating officer— 81% are men and 19% are wom--
en. Representation is even worse for women of color, the study says.
“We really see that women are hitting the glass ceiling earlier than you expect,” LeanIn. org President Rachel Thomas. “Women’s promotion rates still lag those of men.”
The study examined human resources data from 132 companies employing more than 4.6 million people and included a survey of more than 34,000 workers. Thomas said companies can begin tomake progress by auditing their hiring data and ensuring diverse hiring priorities are implemented.
Dig into the numbers and you’ll see a few explanations for why women aren’t advancing as quickly as men:
They are more likely to be ignored at meetings, with 74% of men “able to participate meaningfully” compared with 67% of women.
They are less likely to be given challenging assignments; 68% of men have gotten one while 62% of women have.
They are less likely to be consulted for input on important decisions, with 63% of men being asked for thoughts and 56% of women.
Despite a few percentage points of improvement in this year’s numbers, the study “clearly shows women face an uneven playing field,” Thomas said.
Taken together, those slights put women at a disadvantage. Another factor: inequality at home. For women who share housework with a partner, 43% aspire to become a senior executive. But only 34% of women who do a majority of the housework aspire to be a senior executive.
That adds to an ambition gap. The study found 80% of men desire a promotion compared with 74% of women. Overall, 56% of men want to become a top exec, while 40% of women do.
The glass ceiling also may be dampening ambition for women. Only 24% “want to be a top executive and believe it’s likely they’ll become one,” compared to 32% of men, according to the study.
Women get “less access to senior leaders, you get less of the critical input, you get less credit for ideas. It’s not surprising that you’re less optimistic about becoming a senior executive and less interested in it,” Thomas said.