WSJ findings similar for the private sector as they are for women in the public sector. Read on…
By Pamela Antil, Assistant City Administrator, City of Santa Barbara CA
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a comprehensive series of articles about what’s holding women back in the workplace. Although the articles are almost exclusively related to our sisters in private corporate America, the findings are eerily similar to those we discovered while conducting our own research for the ICMA Task Force Report on Women in the Profession. Specifically, men and women enter the workplace at essentially the same rates at the beginning of their careers in both the public and private sector. Women then begin to decline in numbers as the progress to the upper levels organizationally. As of this year, women CEO’s have grown to only 14 percent in the public sector and 17 percent in the private sector.
Source: 2015 Women in the Workplace Study
The series examines the numbers and some of the possible reasons for the decline. It is a fascinating read and we urge you to check it out here: HERE (some articles require the reader to subscribe to the WSJ — worth it even if just for this series). In the meantime, check out the key findings from the 2015 Women in the Workplace report from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company which is the cornerstone of the WSJ series:
- The leadership ambition gap persists.
- Women experience an uneven playing field.
- Gender diversity is not widely believed to be a priority.
- Employee programs are abundant, but participation is low.
- There is still inequality at home.
- Women and men have very different networks.
Share your thoughts after reading. And check back in this week — we will be sharing ideas we can do TODAY to change the numbers in both sectors.
Pam
