New research shows men and women are equally committed to doing their best at work, but there’s a growing ambition gap among women who want to get ahead — and companies rolling back commitments to women’s career advancement, sponsorship and stretch opportunities could be to blame.
That’s according to Lean In and McKinsey & Company’s latest Women in the Workplace report, now in its 11th year, which looked at data from 124 U.S. and Canadian companies as well as 9,500 employees to assess talent pipeline data, employee experience surveys, and HR programs and policies.
The survey found that 80% of women overall say they want to be promoted to the next level, compared to 86% of men.
The ambition gap is highest at the entry level, where just 69% of early-career women want a promotion vs. 80% of their male peers, and at the senior level, where 84% of women want to be promoted vs. 92% of their male colleagues.
It’s part of a larger and “concerning” trend of companies rolling back their commitments to women’s career advancement at work, says Rachel Thomas, CEO and co-founder of Lean In.
