Headlines like this one – in last Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal – drive me nuts: “A Decade After ‘Lean in,’ Progress for Women Still Lags.”
Oh really?! Surprise, surprise!
Are we supposed to be astonished that according to a just concluded 10-year study of the “roles and promotion rates of millions of women and men at major North American companies,” women’s climb to the top of the organizational ladder remains seriously slow?
To be sure, the numbers of women in the highest ranks rose. But … women still comprise less than one third of those in the top tiers of management. They, we, still lag badly behind men on crucial early promotions. And they, we, have dropped even further back on rates of pay. Moreover, the number of employers who say that gender diversity is a high priority has fallen in recent years, from 87% in 2019 to 78% this year.
As I said, surprise, surprise.
Want to know why what’s happening is happening and why what’s not happening is not happening? Read this and get a clue.