Women now graduate from college in greater numbers than men and enter the work force at similar rates. Yet at every career stage, men are more likely to advance than women.
Dominic Barton, global managing director of McKinsey & Co. said, "If you look at the corporate world today, about 53% of the workers coming in are women. Then it dwindles. The female participation rate kind of goes 53% at the entry level, and then 37% at the next level up—lower-middle management. Then, at the VP level, it's 28%. And at the executive committee, it's about 14% and then, 3%.
And when you try to find out why, it's interesting to see that some of the barriers are not the traditional ones. There are issues about flexibility, but a lot of the barriers are actually around the mind-sets of senior executives. Can we really risk having a senior woman in this role? What if she leaves? What if she goes and has children? It's never said explicitly, but it's quite implicit in terms of what is happening."
Debra Lee, chairman and CEO of Viacom Inc.'s BET Networks made some recommendations, "The first is holding the CEO accountable—that as the CEO, you have an obligation to make sure that women are able to move up the ranks in your company, whatever it takes, whether it's through mentoring programs or taking a personal interest in a couple of women executives yourself.
The other is expecting that there's a balance of men and women in the C-suite, and again, holding others at that level accountable.
There was a data point that men are promoted on potential, and women are promoted on performance, which I had never heard of before, but I thought was very interesting.
And so, one of the recommendations is that women should be promoted on potential. If you see a young woman who you know will go far at the company, she should be pushed along. Don't wait for her to do something amazing, which is usually the way it happens with women.
There are corporate boards, which everyone agrees provide an amazing opportunity for women. CEOs should ensure there are women on their boards, but they also should recommend women within their company to serve on other boards."
Source: The Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2011
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