Report Highlights Declining Focus on Women's Career Advancement

• Fewer companies are paying attention to women’s career development, as revealed in a recent report
• A mere 54% of companies believe that increasing the proportion of women in senior roles is a high priority

The 11th Annual Women in the Workplace report, released by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, shows that the current situation is characterized by a continued decrease in the importance of women’s advancement in the workplace.

As reported, only 54 percent of the companies say that women’s advancement is a high priority, compared to 87 percent in 2019, showing a decrease in the importance of women’s diversity in the workplace.

It is reported in the study that one in six companies has cut back on investment in diversity and inclusion efforts.

This includes a reduction in teleworking, flexible schedules, formal sponsorship, and development programs aimed at women. This study uses information gathered from 124 companies, which employed a total of 3 million people, a survey of a total of 9,500, and interviews conducted on 62 human resource officials.

For the first time, the “ambition gap,” or the difference between women and men, has been found in this report. Though women and men equally aspire to advance in their profession, fewer women aim for an “opportunity for promotions.”

 A total of 80 percent of women opt for an “opportunity for promotions,” whereas 86 percent of men opt for the same.

Moreover, this gap can be found among entry-level employees and senior-level officials, in which 69 percent of women in entry-level positions opt for an “opportunity for promotions,” while 84 percent of women in senior-level positions opt for the same; whereas 80 percent of male entry-level employees and 92 percent of male senior-level employees opt for an “opportunity for promotions.”

Personal responsibilities seem to impact women's occupational aspirations. Close to one-fourth of entry-level and senior-level women who do not aspire for an elevated role feel that personal responsibilities constrain them compared to 15 percent of men.

The gap in opportunities is also observed at the entry level. The reason for this is that fewer women than men are likely to be people managers. Just 31 percent of women who were entry level were managers.

The authors conclude that these challenges can be overcome by investing in the career development of women. Though progress has been made regarding representation of women over the last decade, the report reveals that those companies with a continuing emphasis on gender diversity outperform others. This report proposes that those organisations which have downshifted their emphasis over the last few years should refocus their attention on the progress of women in the organisation.