Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families, and communities.

While the number of women working has increased globally over time, there are still big inequalities and difficulties for women in the workplace. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that in 2020, there were 47.1% more women than males participating in the worldwide labour force. Numerous factors, such as discrimination, cultural norms, and societal expectations, have an impact on this disparity.

With 325,000 members in 165 countries and an influence on the lives of 235 million employees and families worldwide, SHRM is the voice of all things work, workers, and the workplace.

SHRM Research says Future Female Leaders' Pipeline Diminishing

The publication of the Advancing Women Leaders study by Linkage, a SHRM business. The data investigates women's opinions towards their employment as well as the crisis in the progression pipeline that affects women in the top leadership positions. According to the research, female executives are less likely to recommend their present job to other aspiring and employed women leaders as they move up the corporate ladder.

The Advancing Women Organisational Assessment by Linkage polled over 3,000 women for the survey, which reveals that despite a majority of women (81 percent) support their employers' beliefs, the same employees are less likely to stay with their organisations (47 percent).

Women are also less likely to endorse their organisations as "a great place for women leaders to work" when they advance to director or senior director roles than they were early in their careers (Net Promoter Score = 0).

There will be fewer women applying for promotions to high management/C-suite positions as a result of this trend, which shows a loss in business commitment as women's careers advance. A gender disparity in the pipeline starts to show up at the management level and above.

There will be even less gender diversity in top management if there are fewer women in the director and senior director positions that they suggest for their organisation. These conclusions are also supported by SHRM's Women in Leadership: Unequal Access on the Journey to the Top Report.

According to the study, one-third of female managers think they do not have the same opportunity for promotion as their male colleagues. Women are also less likely to recruit other women to join the ranks of their existing employers since they are more likely to assume they would not advance, and they are more likely to switch to another organisation.

According to Jennifer McCollum, CEO of Linkage, "it's a make-or-break moment when it comes to equitable advancement of women in the workforce." "Employers who invest in developing the leadership skills of women can stop this gap from widening."

Additional key findings include:  

Access to Opportunities for Growth

In comparison to their male colleagues, who were more likely to report that employees are aware of internal job opportunities (86%) than female managers (78%) were. 37 percent of female managers feel they were provided less prospects for upward mobility than their male counterparts, which is nearly 2 in 5 times.

Reasons for Departing

Flexibility was listed as one of the top three factors by half of the respondents when selecting whether to stay or quit a firm. 43 percent of respondents, or more than 2 in 5 people, said they felt burned out in their present job.

Employers must pay close attention to the assistance and chances for upward mobility that their female workers need if they are to continue elevating women leaders. Linkage is a worldwide workforce development company dedicated to advancing women's participation in leadership and organisations. Linkage was recognised as one of the 2023 Top Training Companies in the leadership training market.