Here’s How to Propel More Women Into the C-Suite

Introduction

The proportion of women in the C-suite seems to have stalled. Even before the global COVID pandemic, women outnumbered men at almost every educational level, and made up about half the workforce in most countries, but held just 24% of senior management roles and represented only 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs.

And the pandemic has undone much of the progress of recent years — with women’s labor force participation in the U.S. as low in March 2021 as it was over 30 years ago, in December 1988, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

Why are there so few women in the C-suite? Why do so many talented women leaders struggle to advance to the upper tiers of their organizations?

There isn’t one simple answer to this question.

There are many factors that have long been holding back women’s advancement to the C-suite — from gender bias, double standards, and lack of equal opportunities, to inflexible organizational cultures and talent management practices.

In addition, research has found what many of us might intuit: women are often hired based on their experience and accomplishments, while men are frequently hired based on their potential.

Our former President & CEO John Ryan used to tell this story:

During my days as a higher education administrator, I asked a very talented deputy to develop a list of candidates for a senior executive role that had just opened.

She came back with excellent recommendations. There was just one problem.

“Why didn’t you put yourself on this list?” I asked her. “You’re more than qualified.”

She said she didn’t think she was the right fit. I asked her why.

She said she didn’t have all the necessary experience for the job. But, in looking at their resumes, it was clear that none of the candidates were perfectly qualified. Almost no one ever is.

We had several more conversations in the days that followed. And after confirming that this job aligned well with her career goals along with a bit more convincing from colleagues, my deputy ultimately ended up in that senior role, and she has since advanced into even higher ones.

The truth is, I was looking for both experience and potential for this role — and she had the best mix.

However, not enough stories involving talented women leaders end this way.

This puts women leaders in the position of constantly having to prove their readiness and ability, while their male colleagues are promoted faster, sometimes despite having fewer qualifications.

It’s not surprising, then, that the deputy who assembled that candidate list in the story above looked at her own experiences and determined they weren’t enough.

Having different hiring standards for women and men — whether intentional or the result of unconscious bias — is a serious problem, both for the women leaders who want and deserve to advance to the executive roles, and also for organizations that, evidence shows, will perform better if they have more women in the C-suite, in board seats, and in top management slots.

How Your Organization Can Get More Women in the C-Suite

3 Practical Recommendations

Here are 3 practical strategies, drawing on our extensive research on why so many companies struggle to tap the power of women’s leadership, for turning the tables and betting on the potential of women in the C-suite and at all levels in our organizations.

1. Create a culture where senior leaders advocate on behalf of women.

Because women are less likely to raise their hands for bigger roles, and are more likely to be passed over for men whose potential is perceived to be greater, bosses need to be much more proactive in helping women identify and act on potential promotions — and in advocating for them throughout the hiring process. Learn more about why talented women leaders need a network of champions, including mentors and sponsors.

Ryan adds, “More than once in my own career, I’ve nearly talked myself out of pursuing promotions because I didn’t think I had the experience. Fortunately, my bosses thought differently and didn’t let me miss those chances. We need to do the same for all the talent in our organizations.”

Ultimately, this is about changing organizational cultures so that everyone understands allyship, particularly in support of gender equity in the workplace, and senior executives are best positioned to lead that effort.

2. Offer challenging assignments.

Research has found that women receive fewer stretch assignments than men. Yet to help women prepare to thrive in bigger leadership roles, we need to be deliberate about providing challenging assignments that broaden perspectives and build new leadership skills. 

These are the roles we call “heat experiences” for development — assignments that are new, uncomfortable, high-profile, and carry some risk. Those types of experiences help us develop playbooks in our heads gained from practical experience that help us process information faster and make good decisions more quickly. The more mental maps we have, the more successful we can be as leaders.

At the same time, avoid setting aspiring women leaders up for failure. Studies have also found that women are more likely to get “glass cliff” positions — leadership opportunities that are high stakes, precarious, and have a high likelihood of failure. But women leaders, like men, want real leadership opportunities to learn and grow.

Organizations that want more women in the C-suite should track and regulate resources and support for stretch assignments (in the form of time, money, sponsorship opportunities, etc.) to ensure they stay consistent, regardless of gender. Effective leader development experiences need to be challenging, yet obtainable, with clear rewards for efforts and successes. (These are just some of the findings from our extensive research on what women want from work.)

3. Provide feedback, mentoring, and support.

Importantly, if you’re going to offer challenging assignments, be sure also to offer support — through feedback, mentoring, and coaching — to help women leaders extract learning from their experiences and advance in their careers.

Feedback needs to be delivered a lot more frequently than just once a year during annual performance reviews, too. Data suggests that women tend to receive more vague, personal, and unhelpful feedback than men — preventing them from getting clear information about their performance that would push them to learn, grow, and improve.

So be sure your organization is helping bosses understand the aspirations of women leaders as well as the challenges they face, and encourage constructive feedback and ongoing talent conversation.

To help more women reach the C-suite, organizations must also help women widen their networks. Individual women may want to check out our recommendations for how to reimagine networking in a pandemic.

HR departments can help by setting a clear expectation that senior leaders will mentor talented male and female colleagues, and by formally setting up programs for mentoring at work to make available mentors and coaches who can offer fresh perspectives and advice. To make this easier, you may want to take advantage of our complimentary resources on sponsoring and mentoring women.

There’s no reason to wait on any of these actions. Organizations need more women in the C-suite. Women need their organizations’ support to advance their careers.

So take some of the above steps today to help your organization reap the benefits of supporting and retaining more talented women leaders.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Help more women reach the C-suite at your organization by partnering with us for customized women’s leadership development and start building a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive organizational culture with our EDI practice and solutions.