While women occupy a robust presence in the workforce, they face more barriers to professional advancement than their male counterparts. A 10-year report by McKinsey & Company reveals that achieving one’s first promotion constitutes the most challenging milestone for female professionals. For every 100 men who are promoted, only 81 women receive the same opportunity. For women of color, the odds are worse: 65 Latinx women or 54 Black women for every 100 men. Experts call this phenomenon “the broken rung.”
According to Susan MacKenty Brady, CEO of Simmons University’s Institute for Inclusive Leadership, “a massive amount of value is lost when we aren’t fully tapping into the available talent in our organizations. . . . The traction of early promotion is where we need to mend, and where we need to lift up and create more resources and more opportunity for women.”