Lean In and McKinsey & Company released their 10th annual Women in the Workplace study. The report card for corporate America is mixed – and declining commitment is cause for concern.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 — 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞

• Progress in the C-suite is mostly due to companies adding, on average, a staff role (such as CHRO) and hiring a woman into this new position

• Only 7% of women of color hold C-suite jobs

• The Broken Rung has not improved. This year, for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women were – back in 2018, it was 79

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

• Far more companies offer supports for parents and caregivers than they did a decade ago

• Companies have put more practices in place to de-bias hiring and promotions – almost 60% use diverse slates and sending bias reminders

• 9 in 10 companies now offer bias or allyship training, but employees are no more likely to act as allies to women of color or recognize bias against women than they were 5 years ago – just 28% of women and 11% of men say they see bias

• Companies have prioritized career advancement and inclusion with managers, but only half of managers consistently promote women’s contributions and encourage respectful behavior 

𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝

• Women are still more likely than men to have their competence undermined – they 2x as likely to be interrupted and mistaken for being more junior

• Women of color, LGBTQ women and women with disabilities face more demeaning interactions 

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 – 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤

As we look ahead to the next ten years, our ask of companies is simple: keep going. 

Read the Full Report

To learn more, visit leanin.org/wiw and follow Lean In and our EIC Caroline Fairchild