Report Suggests Corporate America Risks Rolling Back Progress

Women in the Workplace

McKinsey & Company and leanin.org recently released the 11th annual Women in the Workplace report, the largest and most comprehensive study on the state of women in corporate America and Canada.

This year, only half of companies are prioritizing women’s career advancement, part of a several-year trend in declining commitment to gender diversity. And for the first time, women are less interested than men in being promoted.

These are addressable issues, the report notes. When women receive the same career support that men do — sponsorship, manager support, and access to stretch opportunities — this gap in ambition to advance falls away. Yet, women at both ends of the pipeline are still held back by less sponsorship and manager advocacy.

Among the findings:

• Only half of companies are prioritizing women’s career advancement, with two-thirds saying diversity is a high priority.

• 54% of companies this year say women’s career advancement is a high priority — and 46% of companies say the same about advancing women of color.

• 21% of companies are giving little or no priority to advancing women — and this number rises to 29% for women of color. This marks a sharp decline in commitment compared to previous years. In 2019, 87% of companies reported gender diversity was a high priority.

• 67% of companies say they place a high priority on diversity — and 84% say the same about inclusion. For reference, in 2021, 90% of companies said that they placed a high priority on diversity and inclusion.

While most companies are maintaining or increasing career development efforts for all employees, some are scaling back staffing and resources dedicated to diversity and inclusion and programs that support women’s career advancement: 25% of companies have reduced remote/hybrid work options, 13% scaled back offering flexible work hours, 13% cut back on career development programs with content for women, and 13% scaled back formal sponsorship programs.

“This year, only half of companies are prioritizing women’s career advancement, part of a several-year trend in declining commitment to gender diversity. And for the first time, women are less interested than men in being promoted.”

For the first time, an ambition gap has emerged — women overall are less interested in being promoted than men. Women and men show equal commitment to their careers and similar motivation to do their best work, yet 80% of women say they want to be promoted to the next level, compared to 86% of men.

This year, the ambition gap is most pronounced at the entry and senior leader levels: 69% of entry-level women want a promotion versus 80% of entry-level men, and 84% of senior-level women want to be promoted versus 92% of senior-level men.

Compared to senior-level men, senior-level women see a steeper path to the top. Senior-level women who don’t want to advance are more likely than men at the same level to say they’ve been passed over for a promotion (women, 18%; men, 12%) and don’t see a realistic path to the top (women, 11%; men, 3%) — factors that may make their next career step seem even further out of reach.

An Opportunity Gap

Women early in their careers are far less likely than men to be people managers: only one-third of all entry-level people managers are women. As a result, far more entry-level men are on a path that can lead to promotion.

When entry-level women have the same opportunity to serve as people managers as men at their level, they are equally as likely to want to be promoted.

Career support is alson strongly linked to a desire to advance. When entry- and senior-level women and men have sponsors and receive similar levels of support from managers and more senior colleagues, they are equally enthusiastic about getting promoted to the next level.

For some, personal obligations can make it harder to aspire to the next level. Almost 25% of entry- and senior-level women who don’t want a promotion say that personal obligations make it hard to take on additional work, compared to just 15% of men at these levels.

Comparisons to findings from previous years that show women do significantly more housework. In 2024, women with partners were more than three times as likely as men with partners to be responsible for all or most housework.

“Four in 10 entry-level women have not received a promotion, stretch assignment, or opportunity to participate in leadership or career training in the past two years, compared to three in 10 entry-level men.”

Entry-level women are also starting their careers with less support and fewer opportunities. Compared to entry-level men, they are less likely to have a sponsor or to get promoted. In fact, four in 10 entry-level women have not received a promotion, stretch assignment, or opportunity to participate in leadership or career training in the past two years, compared to three in 10 entry-level men. Entry-level women are also less likely to feel they can push back or take risks, and less likely to feel comfortable disagreeing with others.

Entry-level women also receive less encouragement to use AI, and feel less positive about it. Only 21% receive manager support to use AI tools, compared to 33% of men at the same level. And this support matters: employees who are not encouraged to use AI are less optimistic about its impact. As a result, only 37% of entry-level women believe AI will improve their career prospects, compared to 60% of employees overall.

Workplace Fairness and Inclusion

Across the board, employees value bias-free processes, respectful workplaces, and varied perspectives. Around nine in 10 men and women at all career levels agree with the following statements: hiring and promotion processes should be free from bias and favoritism; when employees feel respected and valued, they are motivated to do their best work; and a variety of perspectives leads to better decision making and outcomes.

Yet, early and mid-career women are less likely to believe opportunities are fair: fewer women than men agree that the best opportunities go to the most deserving employees and that all employees receive the support they need to succeed and similar opportunities to advance.

More women in senior leadership are concerned that their gender will hold them back: 29% see their gender as a barrier to getting ahead versus 19% of senior-level men.

Finally, in the past year, employees faced especially high job insecurity and burnout. Many employees report feeling frequently burned out: 42% of women overall versus 41% of men.

Burnout is worse for senior-level women, and Black women are feeling it most. Roughly half of employees — across all levels — have seriously considered leaving their organizations in the past year.

The complete report, including solutions that organizations can implement to make meaningful progress toward gender equality, is available at womenintheworkplace.com.