Women

inleadershipWhy

perception

outpaces

the

pipeline—and

what

to

do

about

itAbout

IBM

ConsultingAbout

ChiefIBM

Consulting

is

a

new

partner

for

the

new

rulesof

modern

business.

We

believe

open

ecosystems,open

technologies,

open

innovation,

and

aninclusive

culture

with

a

diverse

set

of

voices

arethe

key

to

creating

the

way

forward

for

modernbusiness

and

for

our

world.

We

want

to

worktogether,

create

together,

grow

together,

andrethink

what’s

possible

together.

For

moreinformation,

please

visit:

/consultingChief

membership

includes

executive

coaching,peer

groups,

workshops,

and

the

ability

to

connectthrough

a

private

network

of

20,000

womenexecutives

across

thousands

of

organizations.

WithChief,

members

have

secured

raises,

promotions,and

board

seats,

while

paving

the

way

for

the

nextgeneration.

Chief

Enterprise

helps

companiesprogress

their

gender

diversity

commitments

byengaging,

developing,

and

retaining

their

womenexecutives.

For

more

information,

please

visit.2iForewordToday,

more

women

are

breaking

through

to

the

top

of

the

leadershipranks.

These

are

hard-won

achievements,

but

they

are

overshadowedby

the

fact

that

women

remain

acutely

underrepresented

in

the

middlemanagement

tiers,

jeopardizing

the

prospects

for

a

healthy

pipeline

offuture

women

leaders.Kelly

ChamblissSenior

Vice

President

andChief

Operating

Officer,IBM

ConsultingKitty

Chaney

ReedThis

is

worrisome,

and

not

just

for

women.

When

organizationscreate

systems

enabling

individuals

to

thrive,

the

entire

organizationflourishes.

Gender

equity

and

inclusion

are

net

gains

for

the

businessas

a

whole.

It’s

not

just

the

right

thing

to

do—it’s

the

smart

thing

to

do.However,

as

our

study

finds,

real

change,

and

real

benefits,

only

comewhen

organizations

build

systems

to

embed

and

sustain

necessarybehaviors,

accountability,

and

action.Vice

President,

ChiefLeadership,

Culture

andInclusion

Officer,

IBMCarolyn

ChildersCo-founder

and

CEO,

ChiefCarla

Grant-PickensVice

President,

HumanResources,

IBM

Consulting,Global

Operations,

Platforms,and

DeliveryAnd

right

now,

our

research

suggests

these

systems

are

broken.

Tofix

them,

organizations

need

to

be

willing

to

go

beyond

well-intentionedbut

basic

measures

that

aren’t

going

deep

enough,

fast

enough.Now

is

the

time

to

drive

real

progress

by

reimagining

leadershiptracks,

improving

pay

transparency,

and

setting

representation

goals.Now

is

the

time

to

challenge

deeply

entrenched

biases

and

to

askwomen,

specifically

and

directly,

what

they

need

to

thrive

as

leaders.Lindsay

KaplanCo-founder,

ChiefNickle

LaMoreauxSenior

Vice

President

and

ChiefHuman

Resources

Officer,

IBMHope

alone

will

not

move

the

needle

on

women’s

advancement,

but

itcan

inspire

the

bold

and

decisive

actions

that

do.

With

this

in

mind,

weencourage

readers

to

hold

fast

to

their

optimism

even

as

the

reportreveals

a

multitude

of

barriers

yet

to

be

overcome.

If

we

can

capitalizeon

this

moment,

we

can

create

a

path

for

women

in

leadership

that

isforever

brighter.Salima

LinSenior

Partner

andVice

President,

Strategy,Transformation,

and

ThoughtLeadership,

IBM

ConsultingLula

MohantyManaging

Partner,

Asia

Pacific,IBM

ConsultingPaul

PapasSenior

Vice

President,IBM

Consulting

AmericasJoanne

WrightSenior

Vice

President,Transformation

andOperations,

EnterpriseOperations

and

Services,IBM

Finance

and

Operations3iiGender

equity

is

not

awomen’s

issue,

it’s

anorganizational

one.4iiiExecutive

summaryMore

people

than

ever

before

believe

that

womenhave

an

equal

opportunity

to

attain

leadershippositions.

But

those

sentiments

haven’t

been

enoughto

drive

significant

changes

in

actual

advancement.Biases

are

still

a

barrier.

Tobreak

them

down,

organi-zations

need

to

mature

their

approach

to

genderparity

and

create

structures

and

systems

that

workfor

women

and

men.Parity“feels”

close

but

is

getting

farther

away.In2019,peopleacrossindustriessaiditwouldtake54yearstoachievegenderparityinleadership.Now,theysayit’spossiblein10years,perhapsasaresultofthegreateremphasisonwomen-focuseddiversity,

equity,andinclusion(DEI)initiatives.Buttheoptimismisbeliedbythefacts,whichshowasigni?canthollowingoutofwomeninthemiddle-managementtiers,puttingfutureleadershipattainmentinperil.Atthecurrentrateofchange,genderparityremainsdecadesaway.Addressingtheseissueswillrequireconcertedandsustainedengagement—andthatworkneedstostartnow.Ourreportlaysoutfouractions,includingrethinkingtherolesofferedtoleaders.Insteadofslottingrisingtalentintoprede?nedboxes,organizationsneedtodesignrolesbasedonthestrategicprioritiesofthebusinessandtheskillsandaspirationsofemergingleaders.How

gender

equityispositionedmust

alsochange:It’s

nota

women’s

issue,

it’s

anorganizationalone.

Leaders

needto

quantifytheeconomic

gainsthataccrue

from

rightinggender

imbalances

andadjust

strategy,

moving

from

well-intentionedpronouncements

to

speci?cgender-representationgoals,

directives,

andmetrics.

Sponsorshipmustalsoevolve—and

quickly—so

thatemerging

leaderscanreceive

thecoaching,opportunities,andsupportneededto

lettheirtalentshine.The

most

destructive

structural

barriersare

invisible.Unconsciousbiasescontinuetopermeatetheworkplace,withonly41%ofmalemanagersagreeingthattheirorganizations’leadershipbelievesthatwomenwithchildrenarejustasdedicatedtotheirjobsaswomenwithoutchildren.Theattributesperceivedascriticalforleadershipalsoremaingendered—menareexpectedtoberesultsoriented,andwomen,peopleoriented.Andgiventhepersistenceofunconsciousbias,organizationsmustadapttraining,goingbeyondstaticapproachestoembedexperientiallearningandallyshipatalllevels.The

costofdoing

nothing

is

gettingmore

expensive.Moreorganizationsrecognizethatenablinggenderequityandinclusionisgoodforbusiness.Infact,organizationsidenti?edasgenderequityleadersreport19%higherrevenuegrowththanothersinoursample.Butoverall,notenoughcompaniesactasiftheircontinuedgrowthmightdependonit.And,withnearlyathirdofwomensayingtheymayleavetheirjobsthisyear,

attractingandretainingtopfemaletalentisonlygoingtogetharder.1“In

the

companies

that

I

work

with,I

see

gender

equity

is

on

the

agenda.But,

it

does

require

a

lot

of

maintenance.And

it

requires

a

continuous

showing

ofgood

faith

and

examples.”Petri

HofstéMember

of

theSupervisory

Board,

Rabobank2PART

IThe

past

two

yearsshowed

that

organizationscan

reinvent

how

they

workTheIBMInstituteforBusinessValueconductsaglobalsurveyeveryotheryeartoassesstheopportunitiesandbarriersforwomen’sadvancementatwork.For

2023—ourthirdsurveyintheseries—2,500organizationsparticipated,makingthislongitudinalstudyoneofthelargestofitskind,encompassing12countriesand10industries.Our

2019

report

confirmed

that

women

remained

significantlyunder-represented

in

leadership

positions

at

work—despiteeconomic

opportunities

fueled

by

the

longest

running

bullmarket

in

history.communities

around

the

world

were

emerging

from

theirCOVID-19

lockdowns.

During

the

months

that

followed,

record1Our

2021

study

launched

as

many2numbers

of

women

left

the

workplace.

The

soaring

mental,physical,

and

emotional

load

of

the

pandemic

prompted

manywomen

to

reflect

on

their

careers—were

the

pressures

worth

it,or

should

they

be

doing

something

else—a

stocktaking

thatcontributed

to

the

departure

of

professional

women

in

theGreat

Resignation.3Competitive

organizations

responded

by

adjustingwork

practices,

enabling

flexible

and

remote

workwhere

conditions

allowed

and

creating

special

return-to-work

programs

to

ease

reentry

for

those

who

tookleaves

of

absence

from

their

careers.

While

notexclusively

intended

for

women,

these

measureshelped

many

continue

working.

More

organizationshave

embraced

these

practices

over

the

past

twoyears

(see

Figure

1).The

additional

stressorsaffecting

women

becameimpossible

to

ignoreMore

than

any

other

event

in

our

lifetime,

thepandemic

fostered

a

growing

awareness

of

theunique

challenges

that

women

face

in

advancingtheir

professional

careers.Over

the

course

of

2020,

women

left—or

were

forcedto

leave—their

jobs

in

record

numbers.

The

figureswere

breathtaking.

In

the

US

alone,

5

million

women,a

generation

of

talent,

were

suddenly

sidelined.3The

fear

was

that

it

might

take

decades

for

womento

recover

what

they

had

lost.FIGURE

1The

percentage

ofWork/life

balanceorganizations

supportingkey

work/life

balanceinitiatives

for

employees

hasgrown

since

2019.63%59%48%47%41%18%201920212023201920212023Flexible

work

hoursRelaunch

programsfor

employees

afterextended

leave4PerspectiveVideomeetings—thegreatequalizer“When

one

of

my

colleaguesentered

into

a

team

chatthat

they

had

to

tend

to

achild,

we

all

commentedthat

it

was

so

refreshing

tonot

have

to

hide

that.”The

shift

to

remote

work

helped

mitigate

some

of

the

subtle

powerdynamics

of

business

meetings.

Suddenly,

everyone

was

renderedas

a

little

box

on

a

screen

and

the

realities

of

home

life

were

visible.People

became

more

accepting.

As

Cathy

Yum,

Head

of

Marketingfor

Zoom

in

Asia

Pacific

and

Japan,

explains,

“When

one

of

mycolleagues

entered

into

a

team

chat

that

they

had

to

tend

to

a

child,we

all

commented

that

it

was

so

refreshing

to

not

have

to

hide

that.An

older

team

member

added

that

during

her

entire

career,

she

had

topretend

she

was

childless

between

8:30

and

5:30.

Now,

you

can

put‘kid

pick-up’

on

the

calendar

and

we

respect

that.

It’s

normal

to

seethat

now,

and

before

COVID-19,

we

didn’t

talk

about

this

so

much.”Cathy

YumHeadof

Marketing

forZoominAsiaPaci?candJapanAs

more

companies

consider

how

best

to

transition

from

fully

remotework

to

hybrid

work

or

in-office

requirements,

they

are

challenged

tomaintain

the

same

esprit

de

corps.

“Everybody’s

really

strugglingwith

this,”

says

Yum.Zoom

is

experimenting

with

ways

to

help

preserve

the

healthy,level-playing-field

vibe

and

make

hybrid

work

feel

more

seamlessand

inclusive.

Yum

says,

“We

created

a

technology

that,

even

if

youhave

five

people

in

a

meeting

room

and

five

people

at

home,

the

AIpicks

up

the

faces

in

the

meeting

room

and

turns

everybody

into

a

boxon

the

screen.

We

think

that

will

help

people

feel

more

comfortablecontinuing

to

speak

up

in

meetings.”5FIGURE

2Even

in

2023,

survey

respondents

rank

the

pandemicas

the

most

serious

disruption

facing

women

at

work,recognition

of

the

disproportionate

and

persistent

tollit

has

taken

on

them.

Furthermore,

factors

having

asignificant

impact

on

women’s

sense

of

health,

safety,and

personal

agency

were

more

troublesome

thanthe

very

real

dollars-and-cents

concerns

of

aneconomic

downturn

(see

Figure

2).The

pandemic

still

ranks

#1

among

themany

disruptions

that

affect

workingwomen.1This

attention

on

women

in

the

workplace

has

hada

halo

effect

on

gender

equity.

Since

2021,

moreorganizations

have

implemented

initiatives

specifi-cally

geared

toward

the

advancement

of

women.Today,

61%

of

organizations

have

established

formalnetworking

groups

for

women,

compared

to

just46%

two

years

ago.

More

businesses

are

also

offeringcareer

development

planning

geared

toward

women(78%

today

versus

56%

in

2021).

And

65%

of

organi-zations

are

requiring

diversity

training

for

managersthat

includes

gender

topics,

compared

to

52%

in2021

and

just

28%

in

2019.Pandemic23GeopoliticalunrestChangingreproductiverightsenvironmentToday,

65%

oforganizations

requirediversity

training

formanagers.456Increasingviolence/social

unrestSupplychaindisruptionClimatecrisis78Threats

tohuman

rightsEconomicslowdown6These

programs

are

necessary

first

steps

to

changemindsets

and

attitudes.

But

in

2023,

they

havebecome

basic

expectations

for

any

organizationserious

about

improving

gender

parity.organizations

doing

it

today

is

only

two

percentagepoints

higher

than

as

it

was

four

years

ago,

indicatingthat

hard-won

gains

requiring

focus

and

commitmentare

not

easy

to

claw

back

and

grow

(see

Figure

3).There

has

also

been

a

rise

in

other

gender

paritypractices

that

are

more

difficult

to

implement

andcarry

more

business

and

personal

risk.

It

is

a

safe

betto

offer

training

and

support—there’s

little

downsidein

that.

Much

bolder

steps?

They

include

requiringthat

female

candidates

be

included

in

job

successionplans,

intentionally

making

room

for

women

in

areaswhere

they

are

under-represented,

and

holdingmanagement

accountable

for

progress.Setting

representation

goals

for

women

can

becontroversial,

which

may

account

for

some

organiza-tions’

reluctance

to

adopt

them.

Complacency

couldbe

setting

in.

Or

it

could

be

a

fear

of

backlash.

Yes,organizations

have

done

a

lot

to

raise

gender

equityawareness

in

the

last

two

years,

but

that

alone

is

notenough

when

it

comes

to

meaningful

progress.

AsCynthia

Chu,

Chief

Financial

&

Growth

Officer

ofAudible,

says,

“If

you

don’t

have

a

systematic

wayfrom

the

ground

up

to

develop

the

next

generation

ofleaders,

it’s

not

going

to

get

there.”

And

goals

need

toconsider

if

women

are

sufficiently

represented

inorganizational

power

centers.

Judith

Curr,

Presidentand

Publisher

of

the

HarperOne

Group

at

HarperCollins,

says,

“If

you

want

to

know

where

the

moneyis

in

a

company,

find

out

where

the

men

are.

That’swhere

you

can

see

the

power.”Importantly,

when

the

pandemic

was

at

its

peak,

thenumber

of

organizations

setting

targets

for

equalrepresentation

of

women

tumbled

from

66%

to

48%.Reinstating

this

very

measurable

practice

is

gainingmore

favor

in

2023,

but

the

percentage

ofFIGURE

3More

organizations

are

taking

bold

actions

toadvance

women

in

2023—but

target

settinghovers

at

2019

levels.201955%202155%202374%All

job

succession

plans

mustinclude

women

candidatesWe

have

meaningful

internships/entrylevel

job

opportunities

for

women

wherethey

are

underrepresented69%56%57%48%55%59%Senior

management

is

heldaccountable

for

gender

equity

withclear

performance

metrics68%68%We

set

workforce

planning

targets

thatinclude

equal

representation

of

womenat

all

levels

and

roles66%7Optimism

is

real,

but

unrealistic“Leaders

need

to

get

retooled

onhow

to

lead

today,

because

it’sdifferent.”Efforts

to

make

workplaces

more

inclusive

have

had

apowerful

impact

on

men’s

perception

of

gender

parity.For

the

first

time

ever,

the

majority

of

men

don’t

seegender

as

a

barrier

to

joining

their

organizations’

highestranks.

For

example,

in

2019,

less

than

one-third

of

menthought

a

woman

could

just

as

likely

be

CEO

as

a

man.Four

years

later,

that

percentage

has

jumped

to

54%.And

even

though

science,

technology,

engineering,

andmath

(STEM)

fields

have

long

been

male

dominated,today

70%

of

men

say

the

CIO

role

is

equally

availableto

women.

Only

38%

of

men

thought

this

was

possible

in2019

(see

Figure

4).Doreen

SebbenExecutive

Director,TheWITNetworkFIGURE

4Today,

far

more

men

think

that

women

intheir

organizations

have

an

equal

shot

attop

leadership

positions.31%|54%48%|68%38%|70%61%|74%CEOCFOCIOSVP2019202388Notably,

in

earlier

years,

women

were

far

lessThis

stunning

decline

of

44

years

tells

us

today’srespondents

believe

gender

parity

is

not

for

futuregenerations

to

solve,

but

is,

in

fact,

attainable

ontheir

watch

(see

Figure

5).skeptical

than

their

male

counterparts

that

they

couldadvance

to

these

roles.

Finally,

in

2023,

enough

menhave

shifted

to

where

the

majority

of

women

and

menshare

the

same

optimism.

Tammy

Luke,

Manager,Demand

Research

and

Insights,

Delta

Air

Lines,

tellsus,

“We’re

seeing

momentum.

In

some

ways,

it

feelslike

there

is

light

at

the

end

of

the

tunnel.”The

gender-focused

interventions

that

corporationshave

adopted

are

clearly

resonating.

In

2023,

thepercentage

of

organizations

that

have

madeadvancing

more

women

into

leadership

roles

a

topformal

business

priority

has

nearly

doubled,

from25%

in

2021

up

to

45%

in

2023.

And

as

many

as72%

say

they

their

organizations

consistentlypromote

women

to

top

leadership

positions.Confidence

that

change

is

imminent

has

fueled

one

ofour

most

curious

findings

for

2023.

Four

years

ago,respondents

said

it

would

take

more

than

50

yearsbefore

their

industry

would

see

equal

representationof

women

in

leadership

roles.

To

our

surprise,But,

here’s

the

rub:

If

these

perceptions

of

progressreflected

real

change,

we

would

see

a

significantincrease

of

women

filling

leadership

roles

today.Unfortunately,

the

pipeline

tells

a

more

complex

story.respondents

in

2023

are

decidedly

more

upbeat,estimating

that

parity

is

possible

in

just

a

decade.FIGURE

5This

year’s

respondents

are

much

more

optimisticabout

the

time

it

will

take

before

their

industries

seegender

parity

in

leadership.201954yearsuntilparity51

52

53

5446

47

48

49

504441

42

43

44

4536

37

38

39

4031

32

33

34

3526

27

28

29

3021

22

23

24

2516

17

18

19

2011

12

13

14

15yeardecrease202310yearsuntilparity61728394105617283941059“Changing

mindsets

is

important,but

not

enough.

We

need

specific

KPIsand

commitments

set

by

the

company,respective

departments,

the

president,and

executives

to

make

change

happen

.”Jun

TaneieChiefDiversity,

Equity&

InclusionOfficer

at

ANA

Holdings,

Inc.10PART

IIHistoric

wins

at

the

topare

threatened

bystagnation

in

the

middleFirst,thegoodnews.Finally,

in2023,therearemorewomenintheC-suiteandsittingonexecutiveboards.Representationhasinchedupto12%forboth.Theseareincrementalincreasesandstillnowhereclosetoparity.

Butafteryearsofinertia,theysignalpositivemomentum(seeFigure6).Petri

Hofsté,

Member

of

the

Supervisory

Board

of

Rabobank,says,

“I

see

a

few

women

getting

into

the

chair

position,

andthey’re

not

there

because

they

are

women.

They’re

therebecause

they’ve

done

a

remarkable

job.”Executive

roles

are

also

slowly

becoming

more

racially

andethnically

diverse—even

though

representation

is

still

woefullyinsufficient.

The

percentage

of

women

serving

on

boards

andin

the

C-suite

who

identify

as

a

minority

increased

by

threepercentage

points,

from

6%

in

2021

to

9%

today,

and

the

role

ofsenior

vice

president

also

bumped

three

percentage

points,

from7%

to

10%.The

other

bright

spot

for

women

in

2023

is

at

the

start

of

theleadership

pipeline—junior

professionals/specialists.

After

asmall

decrease

of

women

in

2021,

this

role

has

surpassed

2019’snumbers,

and

today,

40%

are

women,

making

it

by

far

the

roleclosest

to

gender

parity.11FIGURE

6The

2023

leadership

pipeline

of

women:

Historicpercentages

in

the

most

senior

roles,

but

a

stubbornstagnation

of

women

in

roles

between

juniorprofessional

and

the

C-suite.Big

gaps

in

the

middleHistoric

wins

at

topJuniorprofessionalSeniorprofessionalMiddlemanagerSeniormanagerVPorDirectorSeniorVPC-suiteExecutiveboard40%37%35%34%28%30%

30%25%23%

23%20%19%19%16%15%18%14%13%12%10%12%10%2023202120198%8%12“There

can

be

a

presumption

thatwhen

women

reach

upper

management,they

have

already

demonstrated

‘drive’and

don’t

need

executive

sponsorship.But

that’s

not

true.”Ling

YangManagingDirector,TheCarlyleGroupThe

leadership

pipelineis

hollowing

outRole

design

is

also

an

issue,

notes

Lisa

Shalett,Co-Founder,

Extraordinary

Women

on

Boards(EWOB).

“Just

because

a

woman

can

advance

into

aleadership

role

doesn’t

mean

that

role

is

attractive

orfits

into

her

life.

I

mean,

we

can’t

even

get

the

roomtemperature

of

a

building

to

suit

a

woman’s

body.

Youcan

make

the

case

that

roles

and

workplaces

werecreated

as

male-centric

and

haven’t

ever

beenredesigned

to

be

more

inclusive.”Now,

the

bad

news.

Not

enough

of

these

talented,skilled,

early

career

professional

women

are

makingit

to

the

next

level.

2023

saw

the

largest

drop

inpercentage

of

women

from

junior

professional

tosenior

professional

(10

percentage

points).

Not

onlyisthisthemostsubstantialdropfromoneroletothenext—it

is

the

largest

drop

we

have

seen

in

our

surveys.There

is

even

more

stagnation

in

senior

professionaland

non-executive

managerial

positions,

where

thepercentage

of

women

hasn’t

budged

since

thepandemic—or,

for

senior

managers,

has

evendeclined

somewhat.

The

cliche

of

the

glass

ceilingisn’t

just

a

C-suite

phenomenon.

It

starts

much

earlierwith

the

first

opportunities

for

promotion

to

seniorprofessional

and

managerial

roles.We

are

seeing

a

worrisome

hollowing

out

of

womenin

middle

management.

Since

2019,

the

declinehas

been

profound,

affecting

nearly

all

mid-levelleadership

tiers.

2023

shows

a

slight

uptick

from2021’s

precipitous,

pandemic-driven

fall

of

femalesenior

vice

presidents,

vice

presidents,

anddirectors.

These

roles

act

as

feeders

for

the

C-suiteand

executive

boards.

If

organizations

are

makingsignificant

progress

in

the

advancement

of

womento

top

leadership

positions,

the

percentage

offemale

executives

should

be

higher.

At

a

minimum,we

should

have

seen

a

rebound

to

2019

levels,

yetthat

hasn’t

happened.At

this

pace,

how

long

will

it

take

before

organizationsachieve

gender

parity

in

leadership?

It’s

certainly

not10

years,

as

our

respondents

hope.

At

the

current

rateof

change

for

the

C-suite,

we

calculate

it

will

be

morelike

three

decades.

And,

for

the

leadership

roleswhere

growth

has

been

flat,

or

even

dipped?Sadly,

the

answer

is

never.Why

is

the

path

to

advancement

still

so

difficult

forwomen

despite

so

much

attention

to

this

issue?

Ourresearch

and

interviews

offer

some

clues.13“Managers

may

worry

thatfemale

subordinates

with

childrenwon’t

be

able

to

focus

enoughenergy

toward

their

work.”Qi

Shu

GuangViceChiefEngineer,CTTLSystemLaboratory,ChinaAca