Armed with a diploma and a desire to put their skills to work, many women enter the workforce with aspirations of reaching an upper management position. Many are confident in their ability to make it to the top.
But a study by Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, shows that their optimism often doesn’t last.
A survey of more than 1,000 men and women in a variety of U.S. companies found that while 43% of women aspire to a top management position in their first two years on the job, that figure falls to 16% as they log more time on the job.
Likewise, 27% of new female employees are confident they will reach top management, compared with 13% of experienced workers.
For men, it’s a different story. Although slightly fewer aspire to reach top management (34%), their sentiment doesn’t change as they gain more experience with the company. They feel just as confident.
So what’s draining women’s aspirations? Surprisingly it’s not marriage and children. The study suggests that whether a woman is married or has children does not significantly factor into a woman’s aspirations.
Rather, what matters is the support women have from their supervisors and whether they feel they fit into the typical stereotypes of success for the company.
Many feel like they can’t keep up with their male counterparts and their war stories about pulling all-nighters to finish a project or making a big deal on the golf course.
Also a factor is the dearth of women in top management roles. Even though women comprise more than half of all college graduates and about 40% of MBAs, according to statistics cited in the study, they make up only 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 17% of board members.
Despite increased awareness about the lack of women at the top, these numbers have barely moved in decades.
Managers can restore career confidence in women by advocating for work-life balance. Managers who demonstrate their own work-life balance and show different paths to the top can help employees realize what options are actually available.
In addition, by directly engaging with female employees about their career goals and supporting them as individuals, managers can more proactively help them achieve their goals.
In the end, workers who feel more valued are likely to stay with the company and aspire to succeed, which, ultimately, is good for any company’s bottom line.
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