Women at work are making gains in leadership roles, but catching up to men could take decades, new report estimates

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN

(CNN) — When it comes to women’s advancement in corporate America, there have been gains made since 2015, according to the 10th annual analysis by women-at-work advocacy group LeanIn.org and consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

But their report, released Tuesday, notes that women still face plenty of headwinds in getting ahead. As a result, the authors estimate that achieving true parity with men at work is still many years away. They define parity as women holding leadership roles (from the senior vice president level up to the C-suite) in numbers that better approximate their share of the US population.

Where women have gained ground

The 2024 analysis was based on multiple information sources, including interviews with HR leaders and women employees; materials on programs, benefits and priorities from 281 corporations that employ 10 million people; and a non-scientific, non-statistically representative survey of 15,000 employees from 27 companies. Companies opted in to the study in response to invitations from McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org or by indicating interest through a public website.

The report found that women now hold 29% of C-suite positions, up from 17% in 2015, although the increases were primarily in “staff” roles that support the non-revenue-generating sides of the organization (e.g., chief HR officer) rather than “line” roles directly tied to profits and loss and the core business operations (e.g., CEO). Women also made gains since 2018 in becoming vice president and senior vice president, but again in staff roles.

More employers have also improved their hiring practices and performance reviews to make them fairer, according to the researchers. For instance, 69% now offer bias training for evaluators, up from 53% in 2015.

In addition, given the outsized role of direct managers in women’s advancement, the report notes that the vast majority of companies now offer more manager training and stress the importance of managers focusing on employees’ well-being, fostering greater inclusion on their teams and taking an interest in their employees’ career advancement.

There is also a sense that the workplace is better for women than it used to be a decade ago. A majority of women who took the survey (60%) said they think growth and development opportunities for women have improved, and most (73%) said they see more emphasis on “building respective and inclusive workplaces.”

Employees now enjoy a more helpful suite of benefits that speak directly to their need for support in juggling their home responsibilities with those of their job.

“Today, almost all companies provide critical support for employees who are parents, caregivers or struggling with health challenges — and these benefits are linked to higher rates of happiness and better employee retention,” the report noted. “In addition, benefits like these are especially helpful to women, who are more likely to have caregiving responsibilities.”

For example, half of companies surveyed provide emergency back-up child care services, up from one-third in 2016. Half of companies also offer support for those employees caring for sick family members or elderly parents, the study found.

Absent more advances, decades to parity remain

Despite the many gains for women at work in the past decade, the report found plenty of areas where much more progress is needed if women are to have equal footing in leadership roles with men in the workplace.

For instance, the rate of advancement early in one’s career has not improved much. The report found that for every 100 men who received their first opportunity to be a manager, only 81 women got the same offer. In 2018, the number was 79.

The situation is worse for women of color: For every 100 men who get their first opportunity to be a manager, only 54 Black women and 65 Latina women do. Even though the promotion rate(s) for Black women improved in 2021 and 2022, “(they) have regressed to 2020 levels,” the report said.

“As a result of this ‘broken rung,’ men significantly outnumber women at the manager level, which makes it nearly impossible for companies to support sustained progress at more senior levels,” the report said.

The number of companies with programs that foster the hiring of women has declined as well. That is especially the case for women of color. Only 18% of companies now offer recruiting programs focused on them, and 8% offer internship programs, down from 30% and 14%, respectively, in 2022.

Overall, corporate commitment to gender and racial diversity may be declining. For example, 78% of companies the report examined said gender diversity is a high priority, down from 87% in 2019. A comparable drop occurred among companies giving high priority to racial diversity (69% now vs 77% in 2019).

Meanwhile, less than half the women surveyed said they are getting the support they need from their managers — and women of color were more likely than White women to say they experienced a lack of support. “Given that employees with consistent manager support are more likely to be promoted, it very likely disadvantages them,” the analysis said.

For these and other reasons detailed in the report and based on a decade’s worth of talent pipeline data, McKinsey and LeanIn.org conclude that the road to parity in leadership roles for women may still take decades: more than two for White women (22 years) and nearly five (48 years) for women of color.

Progress will matter to companies, the authors note. “Research shows that companies with more women in leadership benefit from greater innovation, healthier cultures, and stronger performance. And in addition to offering valuable skills and perspectives, women leaders inspire the next generation of women to make their mark.”

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