There’s little question that progress has been made towards gender equity in the workplace-especially within senior leadership. But those gains are fragile and are offset by lagging equity gaps in the ranks of middle management. There’s much work left to be done. And that’s a very important message for corporate boards and their commitment to oversight of workforce culture.study by McKinsey and LeanIn.org, .
But significant problems remain for leadership to address. The Study makes clear that progress is much less notable for women in the middle of the promotion pipeline. This is especially the case for women of color who suffer from a steep drop off in representation as they move up the pipeline from entry level positions to those at the senior executive level. Such a “weak middle” has a negative impact on the overall pipeline.
Myth #2: The “broken rung” - not the proverbial “glass ceiling” - is the greatest barrier that women are confronting in their organizational advancement. Study data shows that for every 100 men promoted to the manager position, only 87 women were promoted; and the gap is worse with respect to women of color. The specific problem with this “broken rung” up the promotion ladder is that while women aren’t responsible for it, they suffer from it - by falling behind and becoming unable to catch up.
These “myth buster” points can be very helpful to corporate leaders struggling with an awareness of continuing gender equity issues in the workplace, and how best to address them. That help is supported by a series of recommendations for companies to consider as they confront these critical, lingering workplace culture issues. The recommendations include:3.