At the beginning of the year,
You already know how seriously interested I am in this topic. My contribution towards tackling the gender inequality issue in the workforce is speaking up by blogging and sharing such research with as many people as possible. Advancing the conversation about this global problem is the only way to solve it.
McKinsey found that even though companies have implemented some measures to improve gender diversity, significant progress hasn't yet been made. Corporate culture remains a critical factor that either supports or hinders that progress.
According to the research results, even if females are ambitious and strive to become top managers knowing they have the abilities and skills to do so, they are not convinced that their company's culture will actually support their rise. I believe this is a serious barrier against tackling one of the major challenges for businesses and economies, as identified this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Companies and their leaders should instead be encouraging female ambition and growth, not stopping or undermining it.
The study also found that women's ambitions are just as high as those of men; they often even exceed those of men. Both men and women are equally willing to sacrifice aspects of their personal lives in order to advance in their careers. However, 69% of midlevel or senior female executives are confident that they will reach a top management position in contrast to 83% of men believing they will. 14% is quite the difference!
McKinsey identified two reasons for this. On the one hand are individual factors such as focusing on personal actions, desires and initiative to advance. On the other hand are corporate factors, or the work environment and setting.
Overall, however, cultural factors weigh more than twice as much as individual factors on women’s confidence to reach top management. This means, company culture plays a much more significant role in undermining a women's career confidence than personal factors. That kind of shocked me!
So, what exactly stands in the way of women reaching the top?
One issue the researchers identified was lower level of engagement and support from men. Naturally, what makes me angry is that according to the findings men disagree to a larger extent that females face more difficulties reaching top positions and see less value in gender diversity initiations that aim to tackle gender inequality.
Another challenge is corporate performance model for top careers, which for many companies is "anytime, anywhere". Of course, for women with children that's not that easy. But here's another striking finding: 80% of men agree that having children is compatible with a top-level career, while only 62% of women say so too. This “double burden” syndrome, in which women see balancing work and domestic responsibilities as the biggest barrier to increasing top management diversity, is a consistent result of the research - for the fourth survey in a row.
Leadership style is another hindrance. Males are not as convinced as women that females can lead just as effectively as men. In fact, almost 40% of female respondents believe "their leadership and communication styles don’t fit with the prevailing habits required to be effective top managers where they work."
What can we conclude?
Well, it seems that we have a long way to go until we tackle the gender diversity issue.
Is there hope?
Barri Rafferty says there is, but "we need to put our heads together and take steps towards addressing this issue straight on."
Quoting McKinsey, to allow women to achieve their career goals and "to ensure that corporate culture supports—not hinders—the ability of women to reach top management, companies must address mind-sets and develop a more inclusive, holistic diversity agenda." This also includes more commitment and involvement from CEOs and other senior level executives because ecosystem change starts at the top. As McKinsey puts it, "unless more men (and men at the top) actively support a gender-diversity agenda, our experience suggests that nothing will change. Ultimately, what is good for women will also be good for men—and for corporations."
Loving this last quote - what is good for women is good for men and for corporations too.
How can we do good for women?