An interesting study from Hewlett Packard that may change the way you approach advancement in your own career!
Want to learn more? Check out The Confidence Gap by Katty Kay & Claire Shipman, which includes many, many more great insights into the mindsets & challenges that hold women back.
Gender Gap
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Today we’re talking about the Gender Gap in Senior Leadership in the work force. This is not your typical lean-in loving perspective.
Some interesting statistics made me reconsider my own progression in the workforce, and wonder if I’ve been holding myself back.
Fact: 53% of entry-level jobs are filled by women. Great! But with each promotion, that percentage decreases. With the first promotion from individual contributor to manager, only 37% of those who progress are women. With the next promotion to Vice President (VP) level, the number of women drops to 26%. And only 14% of the Executive Committees of Fortune 500 companies are women! Too few!
There are some valid reasons for some of this. As a working mom, I don’t want certain promotions because of the stress, travel, or workload associated with them. I admittedly hold myself back because I have other priorities in life.
However, a study from HP (Hewlett Packard)’s HR department made me reflect on my advancement. HP looked at all the people who applied for promotions and found that WOMEN ONLY APPLY FOR A NEW JOB WHEN THEY FEEL THEY MEET 100% of the requirements. By contrast, men apply for the same roles when they met only 60% of the requirements. Put another way, women won’t apply for a job unless they have already done that job completely, and done it successfully. Where is the growth strategy in that? Men approach the same jobs with the confidence that they will be able to pick up the other skills on the job. Wow! What a discrepancy.
This is embarrassingly true for me. I’ve throw jobs out of my consideration if I didn’t meet just a few of the requirements, thinking, “They’re surely looking for someone who has that experience.” Meanwhile my male coworkers with the same skillsets have applied and have succeeded in those roles. This really struck a chord with me, and inspired me to apply for a few jobs that were far outside of my current skillset!
I hope this encourages you to think differently about your career progression, and to apply for that dream job today!
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