Thread by @arghavan_salles

.@McKinsey & @LeanInOrg have been putting out their influential Women in the Workplace report since 2015. Here's a summary of this year’s report, based on 329 companies and 68,500 employees, for those who haven't head time to read it. THREAD

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womenintheworkplace.com

There are now more women in top leadership than ever before (although still only 1 in 5 C suite execs), but the biggest disparity is in the 1st stage manager role. Because fewer women are promoted/hired into these lower managerial roles, even fewer women can climb up higher.

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This isn't really a pipeline issue in the true sense—there are plenty of women at entry level. They’re just not getting promoted/hired to the 1st level of manager, making it that much harder for them to climb the ladder. The authors of the report call this the “broken rung.”

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I was excited to see them address intersectionality. eg, in looking at these managerial roles, for every 100 men hired/promoted, only 72 women were; only 57 black & 64 Latina women were hired into these roles, & only 68 black & 58 Latina women were promoted into them.

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1/5 C suite execs are women, but only 1/25 are women of color. Those with intersectional identities face more obstacles, & there is scant quantification of that in most research. This report also included those who identify as LGBTQ+ & those with disabilities. This is HUGE.

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There are some areas of disconnect btwn what different ppl in organizations perceive. eg, men & HR leaders are more likely than women to think that a pipeline issue is holding women back. They also didn't see the “broken rung” issue as being 1 of the top 3 obstacles for women.

In addition, while 73% of women experienced microaggressions, echoing @palliator's recent findings, only 11% of men had witnessed or heard biased behavior toward women.

It’s hard to make forward progress when we don’t all agree on what the problems are.

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40% of women surveyed had experienced sexual harassment. Those at greater risk were:
-lesbian or bisexual
-women of color
-those with disabilities
-in technical roles
-in leadership roles

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Regarding leave:
-2x as many ppl take leave for non-parental issues than parental leave
-women 2x as likely as men to say taking leave negatively affected their career/finances
-parental leave duration increased over time, maternity leave duration has stayed the same (10 wks)

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More companies/leaders are committed to diversity than ever before. However, very few companies have in place all 4 practices queried (setting diversity targets, having diverse slates of candidates, clear and consistent evaluation criteria, unconscious bias training).

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A few key points to remember:

1. if women were hired into managerial roles at the same rate as men, 1 million women would be hired into these roles over the next 5 years
2. women with disabilities & black women have fewer opportunities, less managerial support than other women

3. black women, women with disabilities, and those identifying as LGBTQ+ are most likely to experience microaggressions
4. those who are the only one of their kind are most likely to feel overlooked, disrespected, and excluded

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Also, 2 main factors predicted satisfaction at work & intention to stay:
-perception of equal opportunity & fairness
-perception of accountability for inappropriate behaviors and actions

➡️MANAGERS need to create opportunities, promote fairness, & maintain accountability.

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➡️Companies say they value diversity, but the culture of organizations still needs to change to create truly inclusive environments.

➡️Helping women get past the broken rung & holding everyone accountable for inappropriate behaviors are key strategies for change.

Let's go!

Many thanks to the authors of the report: @RachelSThomas @coopermarianne @konarlive @AvaMohsenin @LareinaYee @iastarikova @jekahuang @deliazanoschi Ali Bohrer, and Alexis Krivkovich

cc @drjessigold @ETSshow @DrHowardLiu @TomVargheseJr @AMarshallMD @FutureDocs @choo_ek