The 4 persistent myths keeping women out of management

While the number of women in top roles has grown, remarkably few fill the ranks of future candidates. Central to getting to gender parity will be addressing the myths around female employment.

The past few years have seen significant gains in the proportion of women in senior leadership roles. Since 2015, the number of women in the C-suite has grown from 17 per cent to 28 per cent. The representation of women at the vice-president and senior vice-president levels has also improved significantly.

These and similar trends were unearthed in McKinsey & Company’s recent Women in the Workplace 2023 report.

The ‘weak middle’

“These hard-earned gains are encouraging yet fragile,” the McKinsey report said, “progress remains slow for women at the manager and director levels, creating a weak middle in the pipeline.”

At the same time, women directors are leaving at a higher rate than their male counterparts – a trend that has increased over the past few years. Consequently, there are fewer women in line to take the step into the C-suite.

The phenomenon is even more stark among women of colour. While women make up just over a quarter of C-suite roles, women of colour account for just one in 16 C-suite members.

“Women of colour face the steepest drop-off in representation from entry-level to C-suite positions. As they move up the pipeline, their representation drops by two-thirds,” said McKinsey.

Debunking the persistent myths

In boosting female representation across the promotional pipeline, McKinsey suggested it will be necessary to do away with persistent myths about female employees.

“A few of these myths cover old ground, but given the notable lack of progress, they warrant repeating. A few have re-emerged and intensified with the shift to flexible work,” explained McKinsey.

The report considered the following four myths:

1. “Women are becoming less ambitious.”

According to McKinsey, women are as committed to their careers and just as interested in being promoted as men. This trend is even more pronounced in younger women and women of colour, who, McKinsey found, are particularly ambitious.

The pandemic had no dampening effect on the ambitions of women. Approximately eight in 10 said they wanted to be promoted in the next year, compared to seven in 10 in 2019.

“Flexible work has made me more productive because I can build work around whatever I’ve got going on with my personal life,” a female director and mother told McKinsey. “If I wake up early in the morning, I can jump online and go through emails real [sic] quick.”

2. “The biggest barrier to women’s advancement is the ‘glass ceiling’.”

The “glass ceiling” is the idea that women are being prevented from senior leadership by an unacknowledged barrier. The metaphor was coined in 1978 by management consultant Marilyn Loden.

According to McKinsey, the so-called “broken rung” is the biggest barrier facing working women. In other words, the true challenge facing women is not getting from director to C-suite, but it is getting from an entry-level role to a managerial one.

This past year, for every 100 men who got promoted from entry level to manager, only 87 women took the same leap. Similarly, the number of women of colour making the jump has fallen from 82 to every 100 men last year to 73 this year.

“As a result of this broken rung, women fall behind and can’t catch up,” explained McKinsey.

“Bias is a strong driver of the broken rung … women are often hired and promoted based on past accomplishments, while men are hired and promoted based on future potential.”

“While companies are increasing women’s representation at the top, doing so without addressing the broken rung offers only a temporary stopgap.”

3. “Microaggressions have a ‘micro’ impact.”

Microaggressions are demeaning or dismissive comments and actions directed at a person based on an aspect of their identity and are rooted in bias.

The prefix “micro” might apply to the weight some attach to the delivery of these actions or comments but, according to McKinsey, the impacts can be significant.

“Microaggressions signal disrespect, cause acute stress, and can negatively impact women’s career and health,” said McKinsey.

Not only are women of colour more likely to be on the receiving end of microaggressions, but the effects can be even more severe.

4. “It’s mostly women who want – and benefit from – flexible work.”

Despite the stereotype that only women workers care about and stand to gain from flexible work arrangements, it can be beneficial and is desired by most men and women, according to McKinsey.

“Most women and men point to a better work/life balance as a primary benefit of remote work, and a majority mention less fatigue and burnout,” said McKinsey.

Moving forward

To improve female participation across the promotional pipeline, McKinsey recommended organisations should do the following:

1. Support and reward managers as key drivers of organisational change.
2. Take steps to put an end to microaggressions.
3. Invest in tracking and optimising flexibility.
4. Fix the broken rung for women, with a focus on women of colour.

“Over the last few years, there have been sizeable gains in senior leadership. This is an important step in the right direction and shows what companies can accomplish when they focus their efforts on a well-understood problem,” said McKinsey.

Turning this same focus towards the “weak middle” of working women, said McKinsey, will be crucial in getting to true gender parity.

Nick Wilson

Nick Wilson is a journalist with HR Leader. With a background in environmental law and communications consultancy, Nick has a passion for language and fact-driven storytelling.