What gets measured gets done or so the saying goes; unless we are talking gender equity, however, and then a decade of measurement shows a complex story, modest gains, and persistent gaps.
On September 17, 2024, McKinsey & Company, in partnership with LeanIn.org, released the tenth anniversary report, “Women in the Workplace 2024.” Over the past decade, more than 1,000 companies have participated in the study, including surveying more than 480,000 people about their workplace experiences. For this year’s report, they collected information from 281 participating organizations that collectively employ more than ten million people. The report provides a lens on the progress of women and an intersectional look at the specific biases and barriers faced by Asian, Black, Latina, and LGBTQ+ women, as well as women with disabilities.
According to the report, over the past decade, women have made important gains at every level of the corporate pipeline (especially in senior leadership). Yet progress is surprisingly fragile, especially for women of color, who continue to be underrepresented at every level and who view gender and race as obstacles to their advancement. In many instances, we also see that women’s outlook and day-to-day experiences are not much different, or are even worse, than they were nearly a decade ago.
Here are some highlights from the current report.
Women remain underrepresented.
The report described modest, meaningful gains at the vice president and senior-vice-president levels since 2018, as “fragile.” Attributing the main driver of women’s increased representation to a reduction in the number of line roles (that is, positions with profit-and-loss responsibility, a focus on the company’s core operations, or both), which disproportionately affected men given that they hold more of these positions.
In the C-suite, women’s progress was even less sustainable. The primary reason women’s representation increased was because companies, on average, added staff roles—that is, positions in support functions, such as human resources, legal, and IT—and hired women into these new positions. Since companies cannot add new staff roles indefinitely, this is not a viable path to parity.
We Remain a Half-Century Away from Gender Equity
The report also shows that it would take 48 years for the representation of White women and women of color in senior leadership to reflect their share of the US population; this is true parity for all women. To achieve this, companies will need to maintain their current rate of progress, which means addressing weak spots in their pipelines: by finally fixing the broken rung, investing more resources in developing women leaders, and holding themselves accountable for more substantive progress in senior-leadership roles.
The report offers a number of paths forward, include the research-based four building blocks to getting this right: 1) ensuring that employees understand why a new practice is important, 2) building employees’ skills so they can do their part, 3) putting in place mechanisms that support and reinforce new practices, and 4) ensuring that leaders role model the right behaviors. According to the report, many organizations follow some of these actions when introducing a new practice, but surprisingly few follows all of them.
The report also offer practical steps companies can take to drive progress for advancing women and fostering includes: debiasing hiring and promotions processes, inspiring and equipping employees to curb bias and practice allyship and unlocking the power of managers to influence careers and team culture.
Conversation to Gain Momentum
In my book “Men-In-The-Middle,” I offer one more step, actively engage men in the in the conversation about gender equity. It is a specific form of male allyship that often goes undiscussed. Men continue to hold the majority of leadership positions in corporate America, and, therefore, influence, pay, policies, and promotions.
When I interviewed men about gender equity, in anonymous one-on-one interviews, they had a lot to say, just not at the office. This is why I called this group the silent majority.
When I connected the hours of transcripts to secondary research, one thing became very clear, we need to invite men to the gender equity table, not to “mansplain” or take charge, but to engage them in a problem that impedes business progress. Men face career challenges too, and we have a need to change the narrative. Gender equity is not a women’s issue, but a leadership issue.
There is another narrative that can keep us trapped – that diversity hires mean we put people in positions when they are not qualified. During my interviews, a few men shared a story along these lines that when they did not get a promotion they anticipated, and a woman did, his boss gave the reason for the diversity hire: “you know, I would have really liked to give you the job, but you know we have pressure on us to do a diversity hire. You know that does not help us men, in particular white men.” This is a paraphrase from a few interviews.
While I can’t speak for the candidate qualifications of the men or women, I can say that this narrative does not help men or women. If we don’t talk it, then another saying stands true, “a lie unchallenged becomes the truth we live by.” This is why I advocate for conversations between men and women about gender equity and practicing perspective sharing, seeing the world from different perspectives, and leveraging data and facts to a mindset.
The Women in the Workplace report's data suggests that to address systemic barriers, organizations need to actively involve men in driving cultural change. This includes promoting dialogues about unconscious biases, advocating for women’s career development, and holding all leaders accountable for gender equity outcomes. By leveraging the influence of men in leadership positions, companies can build momentum and tackle the challenges highlighted in the report, making real progress toward gender parity in the workplace.
Don’t Take my Word for It
I feel fortunate to have a number of third-party book reviews, and here is one from a man for a reader’s favorite:
Men-in-the-Middle: Conversations to Gain Momentum with Gender Equity's Silent Majority examines gender inequality in the workplace through the perspectives of men. According to Kori Reed, men in America constitute at least 75% of executive positions in the workforce. Yet, few men in high positions are aware of gender inequality issues in their organizations. Her book further explores this issue, particularly in light of our present #MeToo era. This research also reveals that many men don't understand female work-related issues from a female perspective. Her book advocates that men should become more proactive in encouraging discussions with their female co-workers to address gender-related issues in their workplace. The willingness is there, but the follow-through is more important.
Men-in-the-Middle is an enlightening, thought-provoking, and well-researched book. It is easy to read and cognitively digest. Kori Reed did a great job of facilitating these open discussions among working men. The feedback from the interviewees was engaging and in-depth. Reed presents the information in a candid and unbiased manner. The author also did a great job of exploring gender-based, work-related challenges without chastising either gender. Her book reminds readers that it is crucial to include men in gender-related conversations more often and not marginalize them. Reed reminds her readers that male insight is necessary when addressing gender inequality in all workspaces, and their opinions matter. I recommend Men-in-the-Middle to male managers, CEOs, and those in leadership positions who are interested in addressing gender inequality in their workforce. It's an informative read you won't regret investing in.
So, who would like to start a conversation? I am ready to listen and learn.
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