Women in corporate America are falling behind — getting less support from employers and reporting lower ambition than men, warns a new report out Tuesday from McKinsey and women's advocacy group Lean In.
Why it matters: The findings cap a year of setbacks for women, including political attacks on corporate diversity efforts, return-to-office mandates that fall hardest on mothers, and growing cultural nostalgia for "trad wives," who don't work outside the home.
- "This is a moment where corporate America is backsliding on women," Sheryl Sandberg, the former Facebook executive who founded Lean In, tells Axios.
- Despite years of corporate pledges to advance women, 54% of HR professionals surveyed by the group now say women's career advancement is a priority at their organization — and that falls to 46% for women of color.
- That marks a sharp drop from 2017, when gender equity surged on to corporate agendas after Donald Trump's election and 88% of companies told Lean In it was a high priority.
By the numbers: The researchers found a new "ambition gap" between men and women in a survey of about 9,500 professionals conducted this summer.
- When asked if they wanted a promotion, 80% of women said yes — compared to 86% of men.
- At the entry level, defined as employees without direct reports responsible for carrying out "discrete tasks and participating on teams," 69% of women wanted a promotion compared to 80% of men.
- The report's authors said it was the first time in 11 years they'd found such a distinct gap.
Between the lines: The report explains this ambition gap in a few ways. Women have more obligations outside of work — exacerbated this year by the loss of flexible remote work.
- At the entry level they're less likely to be managers, and thus don't have the same opportunities for advancement. And at the senior level, women are burned out and worried that their gender will impede the next step up.
Stepping back, women may just be sensing the corporate retreat.
- "Company commitment to women may be waning," says Rachel Thomas, Lean In's cofounder. "To some degree women are feeling that."
The big picture: Companies are scaling back DEI and recruitment efforts that have historically benefited women and are slowing efforts to recruit women into top roles.
- Return-to-office mandates are pushing some women out of the workforce.
- Online, "trad wife" influencers glorify a model of work where only men leave the home.
- The New York Times opinion section even recently ran a headline that asked "Did women ruin the workplace?" (It was changed, after online blowback.)
Between the lines: Lean In surveys companies that opt in to participate — businesses that ostensibly care about women's experience in the workplace.
- "They're kind of the best, not the worst," says Sandberg, making the numbers all the more striking.
Yes, but: McKinsey and Lean In survey only a slice of corporate America, and many of their questions vary year to year, making comparisons difficult.
- They have tracked one constant over the years: women's representation has increased in corporate America since 2015.
- Still, men make up the majority of the workforce — especially in management and the C-suite.
Zoom out: Sandberg's former company is part of this overall retreat. Meta has joined other firms in scaling back its DEI programs.
- CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized by his employees earlier this year for saying the company needed more "masculine energy."
- Sandberg didn't comment on those remarks at the time, but tells Axios now that "I"m just not a big fan of calling things masculine energy and feminine energy."
- She said she's devoting all her time now to women's causes.
The bottom line: "History says, we make progress, we backslide and each backslide feels worse," Sandberg says.
- "I definitely think it's worse now."
