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Culture November 5, 2022
Women in leadership positions have been saying goodbye to their roles like never before.
In 2021, around 10.5 percent of female leaders, those in senior management and above, left their company. Conversely, only nine percent of male leaders departed, according to a report from the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
The exit rates for women were the highest McKinsey has seen since they started collecting data in 2017.
But why are so many women in leadership positions leaving?
ENTITY Academy’s chief executive officer and founder, Jennifer Schwab, sat down with Yahoo! Finance to dive into the pressing issues, the retention challenges in the STEM industry, and the continuing gender wage gap in the post-pandemic era.
Schwab explained that the reason many women in leadership positions are leaving is due to persistent challenges such as microaggressions, feelings of being undermined, and being passed over for promotions.
These hurdles keep on creating a loop where there aren’t enough women in higher-level jobs, which means they have less say in important decisions.
Although there’s been a bit of progress, especially in fields like STEM where more women are jumping in, things still aren’t great overall.
Schwab stressed how crucial it is to keep women in the workforce, mentioning a study by Accenture that found half of women in STEM jobs leave by age 35.
Many women in leadership positions feel like they’re working hard but still get passed over. And that can be demoralizing.
So what happens with that? They start searching for other career opportunities where they might be able to accelerate their career growth faster.
Schwab explained how she’s even seen it play out firsthand with ENTITY Academy Mentors. Sharing how mentors often encounter the glass ceiling, leading them to consider pursuing opportunities elsewhere where they believe they can receive the promotions they deserve.
Schwab also brought up the ongoing issue of the gender pay gap, especially how COVID-19 made it worse. While there were some improvements in wages when jobs were scarce, Schwab saw progress slip away as companies focused on cutting costs during economic uncertainty.
She was disappointed that companies aren’t putting more effort into making their workforce more diverse during this recession. Instead, they’re prioritizing hiring people with experience over promoting diversity and inclusion.
To check out Jennifer’s full video, click here!
