2023 Women in the Workplace Report | LeanIn.Org and McKinsey

LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company just published their ninth annual Women in the Workplace report— the most extensive study on women in corporate America. Drawing data from over 270 companies and 27,000 employees, a few findings from this 52-page report include: 1) Women’s representation in the C-suite has grown from 17% in 2015 to an all-time high of 28% in 2023, with the most progress seen at the VP and SVP levels. However, progress remains slow, especially for women at the manager and director levels, creating a pipeline bottleneck. 2) Women of Color are consistently underrepresented across the corporate hierarchy, constituting only 6% of the C-suite. 3) Women demonstrate heightened ambition post-pandemic, fueled by flexible work arrangements such as hybrid and remote work; 90% of women under 30 want to be promoted to the next level, and 75% aspire to senior leadership roles. 4) Flexibility is particularly vital for working mothers, with 57% stating they would leave or reduce work hours without it. Considering the increase in organizations enforcing return-to-office mandates, this data point suggests that more working mothers could drop out of the workforce. The report holds a wealth of other insights to explore. As a bonus, here is the IBM Institute for Business Value report, Women in Leadership: Why Perception Outpaces the Pipeline—and What to Do About It. It has more insights on women in leadership.