The Pipeline Predicament: Fixing the Talent Pipeline About the Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business (CWB)
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A Curated Research Report Prepared by The Center for Women and Business at Bentley University The Pipeline Predicament: Fixing the Talent Pipeline About the Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business (CWB) The CWB is dedicated to advancing women • Building Confidence and • Unlocking Unconscious Bias and workplace diversity from the Overcoming Unseen Barriers for Inclusive Leadership classroom to the boardroom. We provide • Men in Partnership • Workplace Flex and Parental Leave thought leadership on critical diversity to Advance Women issues and offer tools and training to foster • The Multigenerational Workforce— inclusive organizations. Our programs • Mentorship, Sponsorship, Issues and Impacts inform and empower students, alumni, and and Networks business professionals. • Pipeline Issues • Advancing Women to the • Measuring Success Through a dynamic suite of programs, we C-Suite and Boardroom focus on critical issues impacting workplace • Wage Parity and gender diversity: • Women’s Workplace Retention and Re-Entry • Employee Resource Groups • Corporate Culture and its Impact on Workplace Diversity The Center for Women and Business offers custom, in-house programs ranging from strategic sessions for senior leaders to hands-on workshops for emerging professionals. We optimize the format of each skills-based program to meet the unique goals of the organization. About This Report Table of Contents The Pipeline Defined . Executive Summary . 2 A Look at the Pipeline . 3 The leaky corporate pipeline Why the Leaky Pipeline Exists — describes the way women drop out or “disappear” And Persists . 8 from the career and leadership trajectory at all stages Women Start from Behind . 8 of their professional lives. Drop Off at the First Step to Mgmt . 9 Mid-Career Issues . 9 Despite the now widespread recognition that diversity is good for the Less Access to Powerful Networks . 10 bottom line, the corporate career pipeline remains stubbornly – indeed Caregiving Responsibilities . 10 infuriatingly – leaky for women and particularly for women of color. In this Unconscious Bias & Discrimination . 11 report, the Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business presents a thorough review of current research and media coverage related to the Inadequate Policies and Programs . 12 pipeline predicament. Outmoded Corporate Cultures . .13 We begin with a look at the current state of the pipeline, citing the most Women’s Perspectives . 14 significant, glaring disparities, including the wage gap. We then explore Workplace Interventions . .. 16 the array of factors behind the leaky pipeline, delve into interventions, and address how and why interventions sometimes fall short. We conclude the Culture and Leadership . 16 report with a discussion of steps women can take themselves. Harness the Right Metrics . 18 A few notes for the reader… People Programs and Processes . 20 • While we occasionally reference international data or practices for Game Changing Relationships . 24 context or validation, the focus of this report is U.S. businesses. Women Can Make Change . 26 • Although this report primarily addresses pipeline issues related to gender, Why Interventions Fall Short . 28 many of the causes and solutions are relevant for all underrepresented groups. The Societal Role . .30 Papers and Reports Cited • More than 80 percent of the research cited in this report has been in this Report . 31 published within the past three years. Data that is older is used primarily for context, clarification, or support. Pipeline Resources and Readings available Online . 36 Fall 2018 Lead Author: Trish Foster, CWB Senior Director Layout/Editing: Anna Babbi Klein, CWB Program Director Research Support: Janelle Gee, CWB Program Assistant EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The leaky corporate pipeline is a term • Outmoded workplace cultures and inadequate that describes the way women drop out or workplace policies and programs are a major “disappear” from the career and leadership impediment to women’s career success. A few trajectory at all stages of their professional lives. examples include a “24-7” mentality, a “boy’s Despite widespread recognition that gender club” sentiment, inadequate parental leave, and diversity and inclusion of all groups is good for the a lack of flexible work options. bottom line, women continue to fall off at every What do women see as major career step, beginning with the first important move from deterrents? They believe the path to promotion entry level to early management. And from there, is harder; that balancing home and work women’s representation continues to decline all responsibilities is a major challenge; that they the way through the C-suite. have less access to powerful relationships that This report, based on a review of 185 sources, can boost careers; that managers are often not explores the state of the pipeline, the array of transparent about pay and performance; and that factors that impact it, and proven interventions. both confidence and ambition are challenged by While focused on gender, the report also day-to-day workplace experiences. addresses other underrepresented groups, Women see keys to career success as particularly women of color. supportive cultures; fair and transparent pay The primary reasons the leaky pipeline and promotion processes; access to important persists include: relationships like mentors, sponsors, and networks; and adequate work-life balance • Entry-level women start out making 20 percent programs like parental leave and flex. less than their male peers. The report discusses workplace interventions • Women are 21 percent less likely than male extensively, categorizing them into four peers to be promoted to the first level of broad categories: culture and leadership; management. metrics; people programs and processes; • Mid-career issues impact women and game-changing relationships. A sampling disproportionately, as family issues often of recommendations in this section includes: converge with increased job responsibilities. inclusive corporate culture reviews and leadership Often, these women have already been styles; improved hiring and promotion processes; sidelined into support roles rather than line and programs like flexible work, allies, professional positions that provide a better path to the development, and frontline manager training. top rungs of management. Featured sections of this report include: the • Compared to men, women lack adequate benefits of women’s leadership at every step access to career-building relationships such as of the pipeline (page 7), how women can make sponsors, mentors, role models, and networks. change (page 26-27), and why interventions sometime fall short (page 28-29). We conclude • Unconscious bias and micro-inequities play an by noting the role of society and government in outsized role for women. This includes biases addressing pipeline issues. against mothers, the double bind, the glass cliff and numerous micro-inequities that erode women’s aspirations over time. 2 A LOOK AT THE PIPELINE Theoretically, the path to the top has gotten McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org; better for women in recent years. Not only do Accenture; Korn Ferry; the Rockefeller women now earn more bachelor’s degrees, Foundation; Gallup; Mercer; the American master’s degrees, and even doctoral degrees Association of University Women (AAUW); the than men,1 but ample evidence supports the Peterson Institute for International Economics; view that women’s leadership is well-suited to the and numerous other credible research groups and complexity of contemporary organizations and firms including accounting and financial services that women can positively impact organizational organizations. Critically, women of color are more effectiveness.2 disadvantaged than white women at every level. And yet women start behind their male peers and On pages 4-5, we highlight the metrics and fall behind at every step in the career pipeline. The dynamics that characterize each step in the abundant research demonstrating the consistent pipeline, from entry level to the C-suite. Please gender divide and its amplified effect throughout note that for consistency and clarity we each career stage has been conducted and use McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org reported by such varied organizations as: 2018 pipeline metrics, illustrated in Figure 1, throughout this section of the report. Figure 1 - Corporate Pipeline Representation by Gender and Race Source: McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org. Women in the Workplace 2018. Page 6. 3 Starting at the Bottom 2018 Entry Level Dropping Off as Managers White Women 31% Women are 21 percent less likely to attain their Women of Color 17% first promotion than their male peers,7 and men Total Women 48% outnumber women nearly two to one by this first White Men 36% move up the management ladder.8 Along with Men of Color 16% this, highly trained women leave the workforce at a greater rate between the entry and mid-level Total Men 52% roles.9 2018 Manager The divide begins before people enter the workforce – during college – when men and White Women 27% women gravitate toward different majors. Fields of Women of Color 12% study such as computer programming, finance, Total Women 38%1 and engineering remain male dominated and White Men 46% lead to wider career opportunities for men after graduation.3 Men of Color 16% Total Men 62% And although women hold nearly as many entry- level jobs as men (48 percent women and 52 percent men)4 a gap in earnings and promotions 2018 Senior Manager/Director