Decades of honing their craft and climbing the career ladder is leaving little space for women at the C-Suite.
Women leaders are leaving their organisations at the highest rate ever.
At present, “for every woman stepping into a director-level leadership role, two are choosing to leave,” according to Alexis Krivkovich, senior partner and an author of McKinsey “Women in the Workplace” report, previously quoted in an article by CNBC.
We’ve recently seen this trend pan out with women from the most high profile, wide-reaching companies taking a step back and out of their top positions — of which YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Meta’s chief business officer Marne Levine are just a few recent examples.
“For every woman stepping into a director-level leadership role, two are choosing to leave.”
As McKinsey puts it, we might be going through the “great break up”
So what does it mean for women in these organisations, industries and the overall workforce? It can turn back the dial on progress in women’s representation and leadership in the workplace. Alexis Krivkovich suggests that this can impact negatively on junior employees, and stall any ongoing diversity and mentorship efforts.
“They (women) are doing more in their roles than men are typically doing across a whole gamut of things that support their office culture and community. They do twice as much sponsorship support, spend more time on diversity work, and spend more time mentoring and sponsoring” fellow colleagues, she shares.
“They do twice as much sponsorship support, spend more time on diversity work, and spend more time mentoring”
More information from Lean In and McKinsey’s data shows that within those at the top of their game, 43% of women reported feeling burned out, compared the 31% of their male counterparts.
Not all hope is lost. There’s also a strong message that can come from this: women can send a message to others to acknowledge that they’re stepping back to prioritise themselves and what’s important tho them.
Read the full article from CNBC online or read more about the Lean In & McKinsey Women in the Workplace Report here.
Want to join a campfire discussion on firsthand, live insights on how we can move the dial on equity for diverse women? Join our May 9 2023 event, Leading at the Crossroads: Equitable Futures for Indigenous Women and Women of Colour.