Nearly a third of women feel their lack of visibility in the workplace is stopping them from getting promoted, new research has found.
A recent survey conducted by Women’s Agenda in partnership with Cultivate Sponsorship set out to uncover how women are being supported in their career progression, and the factors that are limiting progression and promotion at work.
We heard from more than 500 women at various career stages – from management positions to junior roles – about promotion hurdles, sponsorship and mentorship, career planning and more.
One of the key themes to emerge from the research was the idea of visibility – or rather invisibility. Not only were women experiencing a lack of visibility for themselves in the workplace, but they also found career options for progression, as well as support for their progression from the workplace, were unclear and invisible.
The biggest hurdle for women wanting career progression was a lack of clear options (43 per cent), followed by feeling a lack of visibility for themselves (31 per cent).
Women also found “insufficient leadership and focus on career progression/development” stopped them from progressing in the work. The survey found 63 per cent of respondents do not believe their current or most recent employer is offering enough support for mentoring and sponsoring women.
Whilst more than a quarter of women (26 per cent) do not have a career plan, women still have ambitions for career progression. Nearly half (48 per cent) have at least a 2-5 year plan, 14 per cent have a 5-10 year plan and 12 per cent have a 12-month plan.
However, for those who do have a career plan, management and leadership in the workplace are not the main groups that are hearing these women’s work goals. The survey found most women tell their friends outside of work (64 per cent) or their immediate family (57 per cent) about how they want their career to progress.
Meanwhile, only 31 per cent tell their managers/leaders in the workplace, and 28 per cent tell leaders in the industry, about their career ambitions.
So, what must be done to better support women’s careers? Our survey respondents had some ideas.
One of the biggest gaps is the visibility and availability of sponsorship and mentorship at work, and while 62 per cent of survey respondents have never been sponsored before, many agree this would be the key to unlocking women’s potential. In fact, 63 per cent of survey respondents said they would sponsor someone if given the opportunity.
Part of this means allocating more budget to provide this support and mentoring/sponsoring opportunities.
Other ideas to boost women’s careers included having more women in leadership, more clarity and communication on opportunities and pathways available for their careers, access to flexibility – especially for those with caring responsibilities – and better education within the workplace, among others.