In the United States, women now make up nearly 6 in 10 college graduates and half the workforce. Yet many continue to face bias and other barriers in the workplace, including rates of sexual harassment that haven’t improved in five years, according to a new study from consulting firm McKinsey and advocacy group Lean In.
The group’s “Women in the Workplace” report, now in its 10th year, finds that while women in corporate America have made some progress, there has also been a remarkable lack of progress on a number of fronts, from early-career promotion rates that continue to lag behind men’s to widespread sexual harassment.
The study provides an objective assessment of the challenges that remain after years of efforts by women’s rights advocates, businesses and the #MeToo movement to improve the workplace for women. At the same time, a recent campaign against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives threaten to derail the progress women have made moving up the ranks.
“I would say it’s a mixed picture for corporate America,” Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of Lean In, told CBS MoneyWatch. “The fact that there’s been a decline in commitment to gender and racial diversity is concerning.” [corporations] to build on the momentum, and they risk falling back.”
Recently, major companies including Ford Motor, Lowe’s and John Deere have withdrew from diversity in the face of conservative criticism.
The new study found a growing gap between young men and women when it comes to prioritizing gender and racial diversity, with just 4 in 10 men under 30 currently supporting such efforts, compared to about half of young men in 2019. About 7 in 10 young women support prioritizing diversity, a figure that’s little changed from five years ago, the study found.
“There is a pushback in the zeitgeist when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion,” Thomas said.
Sexual harassment remains widespread
The findings also show that sexual harassment remains commonplace in American companies, with about 40 percent of working women experiencing such treatment during their careers, ranging from sexist jokes to lewd comments directed at them, the study said.
Women under 30 are just as likely to have experienced sexual harassment as women over 30, a finding that indicates the problem has not diminished in recent years, the study notes.
“We’re not seeing a change in the frequency with which young women describe their experiences of sexual harassment compared to their older peers,” Alexis Krivkovich, a senior partner at McKinsey, told CBS MoneyWatch. “That’s extremely troubling.”
Sexual harassment remains commonplace despite the rise of the #MeTo movement in 2017, which saw a number of prominent women speak out about workplace abuse and demand change in their workplaces. Yet only half of women today express confidence in their employer’s ability to effectively address harassment if they report it, a figure that’s little changed from 2018, the study found.
“The fact that women are so concerned that if they report it, it won’t be handled effectively probably leads to a number of incidents going unreported,” Krivkovich said.
“Women remained ambitious”
Despite these obstacles, women have made progress in corporate leadership positions, Krivkovich said. For example, women now represent 29% of C-suite positions, meaning general management or chief financial officer, up from 17% in 2015, when the Women in the Workplace report was released.
“We know that women have remained ambitious over the past decade despite all the headwinds,” Thomas said.
But, Krivkovich added, “when you look under the hood, it’s clear that these gains are really fragile.”
For one, women continue to stumble on the “broken ladder”—that is, not getting promoted from their entry-level positions at the same rates as men, the study found. For every 100 men promoted to management in 2024, 81 women were promoted, little changed from the 79 women who got similar promotions in 2018, the study found.
Young women are most at risk of ageism, with older managers biased against them because they perceive them as lacking experience, while young men are often judged by different standards, Thomas and Krivkovich said.
“We know from social science research that we promote men based on their potential and women based on their prior experience,” Thomas said.
While companies must make changes to ensure women have the same opportunities as men, such as implementing blind resume reviews where candidates’ gender or identity is hidden from managers, women can also take steps to help themselves, Thomas and Krivkovich said.
“Don’t sit back and wait for things to happen naturally in terms of sponsorship, mentoring network, presumption of ambition and opportunities that come your way,” Krivkovich said. “For all of these things, you have to be proactive.”
