Women In The Workplace

Authors: Marilyn Nagel, Co-Founder & Chief Advocacy Officer, RISEQUITY | Erika Villanueva Vaca, DE&I Intern, H&F

The Women in the Workplace 2022 report from McKinsey & Company focuses on how the pandemic has changed what women want from their organizations, including the growing importance of opportunity, flexibility, employee well-being, diversity, equity, and inclusion.?

Here at RISEQUITY, we conduct listening sessions with women (minority groups), and what we hear echoes the themes we read.?

The report emphasizes the significant underrepresentation of women in leadership roles, especially for women of color. Although there are “too few women to promote” into leadership, an implicit gender bias continues to hold women back, and this is what we are hearing directly from the women we speak with. Women have shared that they constantly feel overlooked for leadership roles, and at one company where RISEQUITY did both listening sessions and data analytics, we found this was not just a perception, but the data showed that it took women close to a year longer to be promoted than men.?Even the most ambitious women think that achieving the top is an out-of-reach goal.?

Women have also identified to us that their career paths are unclear, often, they have no idea what is needed to get to the next level, and many reported that when given specifics and they complete them, more barriers are put in front of them. Women have also shared that they don’t have support from company leaders as sponsors, and this is a clear barrier to their advancement as compared to the informal sponsorship that many men enjoy.?

In some cases where entrepreneurial thinking from women is not encouraged, they take other measures. Women quit their jobs to open their own businesses because they could not advance in the corporate world and often start these businesses while still working to see if they are viable before quitting a full-time job.??

Women share with us in our focus groups/listening sessions that their judgment is constantly questioned, and often experience belittling microaggressions that go unchecked even when reported to HR. Since women account for 32% of tech and engineering roles, they are often the only woman in the room. This makes it harder to speak up, and when they are constantly questioned if they are "competent enough," it promotes imposter syndrome and often marginalizes women’s input.

The study mentions that “managers are key to retaining women,” and from our work, we would agree. Women have expressed the importance of inclusive managers on their staying with their company. Inclusive managers facilitate team discussions and enhance belonging through mentorship, and are vital for women of color. When faced with microaggressions, women look up to their managers for guidance. When we do inclusion surveys, we see a high correlation between inclusion and belonging with female managers.?Yet, there are still a majority of men in leadership roles and a lack of POC.

?From our work with large and small private and public companies, we have found that women and women of color are facing multiple challenges that are reiterated in the study. Our recommendations are customized for each company and focused on a data-driven approach to understanding where a company is starting, then putting a strategic plan in place to move the company forward to engage and leverage the often untapped talent of women and, in particular, women of color. This is a talent-focused approach inclusive of talent acquisition and development.?

For more information, contact [email protected].