Why women in management positions are more likely than ever to resign

The millionaire figures that manages men's sports 4:59

(CNN Business) --

When it comes to rising to management positions, men continue to have an advantage.

And women who rise to management positions are more likely than their male counterparts to see their authority undermined and some of their efforts go unnoticed.

Now, in the wake of the pandemic, they are also more likely than ever to quit as a result of job dissatisfaction.

That's what McKinsey & Company's 2022 Women in the Workplace report says in collaboration with LeanIn.Org, a major annual study of employee and talent data from hundreds of participating companies. .

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Among the employers studied, the report found that for every 100 men promoted from an entry-level position to manager, only 87 women rise through the ranks.

And overall, 60% of managers in the data analyzed were men.

"For the eighth year in a row, a 'broken rung' at the top rung to manager holds women back," the authors wrote.

"As a result, men significantly outnumber women at the management level, and women can never catch up. There are simply too few women to move up to management positions."

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According to the report, the company's management also remains predominantly male and white.

Only one in four chief executives was a woman, and only 1 in 20 was a woman of color.

"Despite modest gains in C-suite representation over the past eight years, women, and especially women of color, remain seriously underrepresented in corporate America," the study authors noted.

Obstacles women leaders face

The McKinsey/LeanIn.Org study finds that although women are just as likely as men to seek higher positions, once they are in them, they tend to face more microaggressions that undermine their authority and send signals that they will obstacles to moving forward.

The study found that 37% of female leaders (defined as directors or above) surveyed said they had a co-worker who took credit for their idea, compared to 27% of male leaders.

And they were twice as likely as their male counterparts to be mistaken for someone of lower rank.

In the case of black women leaders, the impairment is worse.

The study found, for example, that they were 1.5 times more likely than women leaders overall to be told or implied by colleagues that they were not qualified for their job.

According to the report, women leaders are twice as likely to spend time and energy supporting employee wellness and fostering diversity, equity and inclusion, but are not rewarded for it.

Of the female leaders surveyed, 40% said their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are not recognized in performance reviews.

Women are more willing to move to get what they want

Women who make it to leadership roles said they expect more from their jobs than ever before and are willing to change companies to get there, according to the report.

Roughly half (49%) of female leaders surveyed said that flexibility is among their top three considerations when deciding to join or leave a company, compared to 34% of male leaders.

Additionally, female leaders were more than 1.5 times more likely than their male colleagues to have left a job to seek a role at a company more committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.

"Women leaders are leaving their companies at the highest rate in history, and the gap between female and male leaders leaving is the largest it has ever been," the study authors noted.

As a point of perspective, they added, "for every woman at the director level who is promoted to the next level, two female directors choose to leave their company."

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And companies interested in putting more female employees on the leadership track could take particular note of this finding:

Among female employees under 30 who were surveyed, nearly two-thirds said they would be more interested in advancing at work if they saw senior leaders exhibit the kind of work-life balance that women seek for themselves .

Companies that fail to take action may find it difficult to recruit and retain the next generation of women leaders, and for companies that already have a "broken rung" in their chain of leadership, this has particularly worrying implications, the study authors wrote. .

The McKinsey/LeanIn.Org report is based on a survey of more than 40,000 employees at 55 companies, interviews with a few dozen respondents, as well as research, and talent pipeline and other data from 333 companies. .

Together, they represent more than 12 million employees in the United States and Canada.

Women's jobs labor equality