Women in the Workplace 2023

Progress remains slow for women at the manager and director levels, creating a weak middle in the pipeline and impacting the majority of women in corporate America. And the “Great Breakup” continues for women at the director level, the group next in line for senior leadership positions.⁸ Similar to last year, women directors are leaving at a higher rate than in past years—and at a notably higher rate than men at the same level. As a result of these two dynamics, there are strikingly fewer women in line for top positions.⁹

Moreover, progress for women of color is lagging behind. At nearly every step in the pipeline, the representation of women of color falls relative to white women and men of the same race and ethnicity. Until companies address this inequity head on, women of color will remain severely underrepresented in leadership positions—and mostly absent from the C-suite.

Latinas stand out as being the least likely of any group of women to receive a raise in the last year and also face the steepest climb up the corporate ladder: only 1 percent of C-suite executives are Latina. “It’s disheartening to be part of an organization for many years and still not see a person like me in senior leadership,” explains one Latina professional. “Until I see somebody like me in the C-suite, I’m never going to really feel like I belong.”

At every stage of the pipeline, women are as committed to their careers and as interested in being promoted as men. Women and men at the director level—when the C-suite is in closer view—are also equally interested in senior leadership roles. And young women are especially ambitious.¹⁰ Nine in 10 want to be promoted to the next level, and 3 in 4 aspire to become senior leaders.

Moreover, the pandemic and increased flexibility did not dampen women’s ambitions. Roughly 8 in 10 women want to be promoted to the next level this year, compared to 7 in 10 in 2019.¹¹ And the same holds true for men.

Women who work hybrid or remotely are as ambitious as women and men who work on-site. Also, women who work flexibly are just as ambitious as women who don’t work flexibly. In fact, flexibility is allowing women to pursue their ambitions. One in 5 women say flexibility has helped them stay at their organization or avoid reducing their hours. A large number of women who work hybrid or remotely point to feeling less fatigued and burned out as a primary benefit. And a majority of women report having more focused time to get their work done when they work remotely.

The pandemic showed women that a new model of balancing work and life was possible. Now, few want to return to the way things were. Most women are taking more steps to prioritize their personal lives, but at no cost to their ambition—they remain just as committed to their careers, and just as interested in advancing, as women who aren’t. These women are defying the outdated notion that work and life are incompatible—and that one comes at the expense of the other.

For the ninth consecutive year, women face their biggest hurdle at the first critical step up to manager. This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted. And this gap is trending the wrong way for women of color: this year, 73 women of color were promoted to manager for every 100 men, down from 82 women of color last year. As a result of this broken rung, women fall behind and can’t catch up.¹³

Outdated thinking often points to two explanations for the broken rung: women are not asking for promotions, and they’re more likely to step away from work. Neither is true. Women at the entry and manager levels ask for promotions as often as men do, and they are no more likely to leave their company—this year, 17 percent of entry-level men chose to leave, compared to 16 percent of women at the same level.

If women’s career choices don’t explain the broken rung, what does? Women are often hired and promoted based on past accomplishments, while men are hired and promoted based on future potential. This unfair thinking—rooted in what social scientists refer to as “performance bias”—can be particularly challenging.¹⁶ Because women early in their careers have shorter track records and similar work experiences relative to their men peers, performance bias can especially disadvantage them at the first promotion to manager.¹⁷

While companies are increasing women’s representation at the top, doing so without addressing the broken rung offers only a temporary stopgap. Because of the gender disparity in early promotions, men end up holding 60 percent of manager-level positions in a typical company, while women occupy 40 percent. Since men significantly outnumber women, there are fewer women to promote to director, and the number of women decreases at every subsequent level.

Microaggressions signal disrespect, cause acute stress, and can negatively impact women’s careers and health.¹⁸ Years of data show that women experience microaggressions at a significantly higher rate than men: they are twice as likely to be interrupted and hear comments on their emotional state. For women with traditionally marginalized identities, these slights happen more often and are even more demeaning. As just one example, Asian and Black women are seven times more likely than white women to be confused with someone of the same race and ethnicity.¹⁹

As a result, the workplace is a mental minefield for many women, particularly those with traditionally marginalized identities. Women who experience microaggressions are much less likely to feel psychologically safe, which makes it harder to take risks, propose new ideas, or raise concerns.²⁰ The stakes just feel too high. On top of this, 78 percent of women who face microaggressions—so the vast majority—self-shield at work, or adjust the way they look or act in an effort to protect themselves.²¹ For example, many women choose not to speak up or share an opinion to avoid seeming difficult or aggressive to their colleagues. The stress caused by these dynamics cuts deep. Women who experience microaggressions—and self-shield to deflect them—are three times more likely to think about quitting their jobs and four times more likely to almost always be burned out.²² By leaving microaggressions unchecked, companies miss out on everything women have to offer and risk losing talented employees.

Asian women are significantly more likely than women overall to be mistaken for other colleagues of the same race or ethnicity. This experience, which is all too common for Black women as well, is not only disrespectful, but it means their contributions at work may go unnoticed. In addition, assumptions about their culture signal a lack of attention and respect. “I’ve gotten mistaken for Chinese,” explains one Filipino manager. “People will ask me about some kind of Chinese delicacy assuming that all Asian backgrounds are the same.”

Black women are more than twice as likely as women overall to code-switch at work by changing their mannerisms, tone, or speaking style. They are also more likely than women of other races and ethnicities not to speak up or share an opinion to avoid appearing difficult or aggressive. “I speak very differently at home than I do at work,” explains one Black woman. “I feel like I have to be careful about the way I say things.”

More than any other group of women, LGBTQ+ women feel the need to hide important parts of their identities to fit in at work.³⁴ They are also 2.5 times more likely to feel pressure to change their appearance to be perceived as more professional. Such self-shielding behaviors make it harder for them to bring their authentic selves to work. “I had an experience where I think I got turned down for a promotion because of my hair. I wasn’t as girly as the others going for that role,” explains one director who identifies as bisexual. “And when I looked at myself compared to the other s—I didn’t wear makeup and I didn’t wear jewelry—I didn’t have an executive presence.”

Employees view flexibility as vital today—and for the future of work

Flexibility is also core to how employees view the future of work. Half of women and a third of men point to “offering significant flexibility in when and where employees work” as a top-three factor in their company’s future success.

As workplace flexibility transforms from a nice-to-have for some employees to a crucial benefit for most, women continue to value it more. This is likely because they still do a disproportionate amount of childcare and household work.³⁵

Hybrid and remote work are delivering important benefits to employees. Most women and men point to better work-life balance as a primary benefit of remote work, and a majority mention less fatigue and burnout. And research shows that good work-life balance and low burnout are key to organizational success.³⁸

Moreover, 83 percent of employees say the ability to work more efficiently and productively is a primary benefit of working remotely. However, it’s worth noting that companies see this differently: only half of HR leaders say employee productivity is a primary benefit of working remotely.

Employees who work in person also see tangible benefits. A majority point to an easier time collaborating and a stronger personal connection to coworkers as the biggest benefits of working on-site—two factors central to employee well-being and effectiveness.

However, the culture of office work may be falling short. While 77 percent of companies believe a strong organizational culture is a key benefit of on-site work, most employees disagree: only 39 percent of men and 34 percent of women who work on-site say a key benefit is feeling more connected to their organization’s culture. On top of this, men are more likely to benefit from working on-site

Tracking outcomes is critical to any successful business initiative. Most companies do this consistently when it comes to achieving their financial objectives, but few - left: content: apply the same rigor to women’s advancement.Here are three steps to get started:

Companies should track outcomes for drivers of women’s advancement: hiring, promotions, and attrition. Visibility into other metrics that influence career progression is also important, such as participation in career development programs, performance ratings, and employee sentiments on job satisfaction and inclusion. Then it’s critical that companies mine their data for insights that will improve women’s experiences and create equal opportunities for advancement. Ultimately, data tracking is only valuable if it leads to organizational change.

Tracking metrics by race and gender combined should be table stakes. Yet even now, fewer than half of companies do this, and far fewer track data by other self-reported identifiers, such as LGBTQ+ identity.⁴⁴ Without this level of visibility, the experiences and career progression of women with traditionally marginalized identities can go overlooked.

Awareness is a valuable tool for driving change—when employees are able to see opportunities and challenges, they’re more invested in being part of the solution.⁴⁵ In addition, transparency with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals and metrics can send a powerful signal to employees with traditionally marginalized identities that they are supported within the organization.

Managers are on the front lines of employees’ experiences and central to driving organizational change. As companies more deeply invest in the culture of work, managers play an increasingly critical role in fostering DEI, ensuring employee well-being, and navigating the shift to flexible work. These are all important business priorities, but managers do not always get the direction and support they need to deliver on them.Here are three steps to get started:

Awareness is a valuable tool for driving change—when employees are able to see opportunities and challenges, they’re more invested in being part of the solution.⁴⁵ In addition, transparency with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals and metrics can send a powerful signal to employees with traditionally marginalized identities that they are supported within the organization.

To effectively manage the new demands being placed on them, managers need ongoing education. This includes repeated, relevant, and high-quality training that emphasizes specific examples of core concepts and includes concrete actions that managers can incorporate into their daily practices. And topics should be carefully selected to give managers the tools they need to be successful—for example, a focused training on how to manage a dispersed team may be far more valuable than a broader training on management essentials. Finally, companies should adopt an “often and varied” approach to training and upskilling and create regular opportunities for coaching so that managers can continue to build the awareness and capabilities they need to be effective

It requires significant intentionality and follow-through to be a good people and culture leader, and this is particularly true when it comes to fostering DEI. Companies need to make sure their managers have the time and resources to do these aspects of their job well. On top of this, companies should put policies and systems in place to make it easier for managers. As a few examples, many managers would benefit from sample scripts for challenging conversations and standardized questions to gauge their team members’ well-being and job satisfaction in one-on-one meetings.⁴⁶

Microaggressions are pervasive, harmful to the employees who experience them, and result in missed ideas and lost talent. Companies need to address microaggressions head on.Here are three steps to get started:

Many people don’t realize the harm microaggressions cause. To raise employee awareness and set the right tone, it’s crucial that senior leaders communicate that microaggressions and disrespectful behavior of any kind are not welcome. Companies can help with this by developing a code of conduct that articulates what supportive and respectful behavior looks like—as well as what’s unacceptable and uncivil behavior.

Most people don’t fully understand how microaggressions work, so they end up saying and doing things that are hurtful.⁴⁸ Similarly, employees often don’t recognize microaggressions, let alone know what to say or do to be helpful.⁴⁹ That’s why it’s so important that companies have employees participate in high-quality bias and allyship training and receive periodic refreshers to keep key learnings top of mind.

It’s important for companies to foster a culture that encourages employees to speak up when they see microaggressions or other disrespectful behavior. Although these conversations can be difficult, they often lead to valuable learning and growth. Senior leaders can play an important role in modeling that it is safe to surface and discuss these behaviors.⁵⁰

The past few years have seen a transformation in how we work. Flexibility is now the norm in most companies; the next step is unlocking its full potential and bringing out the best of what different work arrangements have to offer.Here are three steps to get started:

Without this clarity, employees may have very different and conflicting interpretations of what’s expected of them, which can create confusion and make coordination on and across teams difficult. As part of this process, companies need to find the right balance between setting organization-wide guidelines and allowing managers to work with their teams to determine an approach that works best for them.

The last thing companies want to do is fly in the dark as they navigate the transition to flexible work. As organizations roll out new practices and programs to support flexibility, they should carefully track what’s working, and what’s not, and adjust their approach accordingly—a test-and-learn mentality and a spirit of co-creation with employees are critical to getting these changes right.

Companies should take steps to ensure that employees aren’t penalized for working flexibly. This includes putting systems in place to make sure that employees are evaluated fairly, such as redesigning performance reviews to focus on results, rather than when and where work gets done. Managers should also be equipped to be part of the solution. This requires educating managers on flexibility stigma and the importance of making sure their team members get equal recognition for their contributions and equal opportunities to advance. In addition, to ensure the playing field is leveled, companies should track outcomes by work arrangement to see if employees are getting the same opportunities and advancing at similar rates.

Fixing the broken rung is a tangible, achievable goal and will set off a positive chain reaction across the pipeline. After nine years of very little progress, there is no excuse for companies failing to take action. Here are three steps to get started:

To uncover inequities in the promotions process, companies need to track who is put up for and who receives promotions, by race and gender combined. Tracking with this intersectional lens enables employers to identify and address the obstacles faced by women of color, and companies can use these data to identify otherwise invisible gaps and refine their promotions processes.

Leaders should put safeguards in place to ensure that evaluation criteria are applied fairly and bias doesn’t creep into decision-making. Companies can take these actions:

• Send “bias” reminders before performance evaluations and promotion cycles explaining how common biases can impact reviewers’ assessments. Research shows that anti-bias training can wear off over time, so seasonal refreshers like this can make a big difference.⁵³
• Appoint a “bias monitor” to keep performance evaluations and promotions discussions focused on the core criteria for the job and surface potentially biased decision-making. Research shows that this has a large impact by shutting down conversations that are likely influenced by bias.⁵⁴
• Have reviewers explain the rationale behind their performance evaluations and promotion recommendations. When individuals have to justify their decisions, they are less likely to make snap judgments or rely on gut feelings, which are prone to bias.

Companies should make sure their career development programs address the distinct biases and barriers that women of color experience. Yet only a fraction of companies tailor career program content for women of color. And given that women of color tend to get less career advice and have less access to senior leaders, formal mentorship and sponsorship programs can be particularly impactful.55 It’s also important that companies track the outcomes of their career development programs with an intersectional lens to ensure they are having the intended impact and not inadvertently perpetuating inequitable outcomes

Companies with strong women’s representation across the pipeline are more likely to have certain practices in place. The following data are based on an analysis of top performers—companies that have a higher representation of women and women of color than their industry peers.

McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org would like to thank the 276 companies and more than 27,000 employees who participated in this year’s study. By sharing their information and insights, they’ve given us new visibility into the state of women in the workplace and the steps companies can take to achieve gender equality.

We appreciate the continued help of Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), The Equity Collaborative, Expanding Equity, International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Massachusetts High Technology Council (MHTC), PayTech Women, The Press Forward, and Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) in convening participants in their respective industries.

We would like to thank Qualtrics and IntelliSurvey for their help in conducting the surveys for this study and Getty Images for providing the photography from the Lean In Collection used in this report and website.