Women in the Workplace 2024 Report
About the Study
Women in the Workplace is the largest study on the state of women in corporate America. This year's report included data from 281 participating organizations, more than 15,000 employee surveys, and interviews with people of diverse identities, including women of color, LGBTQ+ women, and women with disabilities. Here's what the study found...
Women Face Barriers Early in Their Career
Women hold 59% of Bachelor's degrees and represent 51% of the population... yet only make up 48% of entry-level employees?
But wait, there's more! Women lose the most ground at the first step up to manager. For every 100 men that are promoted, only 81 women are. This figure worsens for women of color; only 65 Latina women and 54 Black women are promoted (assuming equal numbers of each group). We've heard of the gender gap, but it seems we now have to start addressing the promotion gap, too.
And before you even suggest it, this trend is not because women are less ambitious than men. 8 in 10 women under 30 are seeking a promotion, but many of them fear their gender and/or age will make it harder for them to advance. Despite the commonly held belief that ageism mostly impacts older workers, this study found that young women are actually the group most susceptible to this form of discrimination.
What's happening is that men tend to be judged more on potential when being considered for promotions, whereas women are judged for past accomplishments. When you're a young woman who has not had many opportunities to demonstrate their skills yet, this dynamic creates problems.
Companies have implemented some practices to make their workplace more equitable from a gender and racial standpoint... so what explains these persistent gaps? Here's a few issues:
Hiring and Performance Reviews
Experts recommend some core de-biasing practices for hiring and performance review processes:
Career Advancement Programming
Companies have scaled back programs designed to advance women, including mentorship, sponsorship, and career development opportunities. Mentorship plays a crucial role in advancing women's careers, providing guidance, support, and networking opportunities.
Misalignment of Manager Priorities
78% of managers say that they are expected to do more in terms of supporting employee well-being and career development, handling issues that arise from remote or hybrid work, and promoting inclusion on their teams. Despite these expectations...
...most companies do not reward managers for these responsibilities, instead evaluating their ability to deliver business objectives.
As somebody who's been a manager, I know how time-consuming it can be to develop employees. It can be hard to take away time spend on your actual deliverables, especially during a busy time. I can also understand if committing that time to offer guidance feels like a "non-promotable task" sometimes, like so many other tasks that usually fall on the woman in the office.
But trust me, it is worth it. Not just for your mentee, but for yourself.
Ineffective Bias Training
While 86% of companies offer bias training, and 60% offer allyship training for employees, they are not seeing results when it comes to employee actions.
While we're on the subject of microaggressions...
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to experience competence-based microaggressions at work. These instances can lead to negative outcomes for women. Women who experience microaggressions are...
And again, all of these statistics are more severe for women of color, women with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ women.
Simply put, being a woman in corporate America is exhausting.
Declining Commitment to Diversity
Political actions related to diversity have been all over the news in 2025, and for good reason. I don't want this to become a political platform, though it seems increasingly difficult these days to avoid, but I do want to state that I am 100% in favor of DEI!!!! Companies should never stop striving for equity. It makes business sense, and it makes moral sense.
Unfortunately, as much as it seems like DEI initiatives are only recently being rolled back, the truth is that businesses have been reducing their commitment to diversity for years. The future looks... well, divisive. It seems that, on average, young men are leaning away from prioritizing diversity, whereas young women are the most likely group to say that gender and racial diversity are high priorities for them.
Conclusion: You Deserve Better
This report shows just how far we have to go to reach gender parity in the workplace, and the everyday tribulations of the modern working woman. In a weird way, this study was cathartic for me. I often felt like I was alone in these struggles when I was experiencing them, but I see now that I wasn't.
It was a whole new world the day I walked into an office that not only tolerated my opinions but actually valued them and wanted to hear what I had to say. That gave me opportunities to grow and take on more and more responsibilities. That enabled me to be myself and show up authentically to work. Everybody should be able to have that, and if you don't right now, I hope you find it soon.
I want to leave on a couple of notes for any woman experiencing an unsupportive workplace:
Your best is more than enough. Honestly, your 80% is still probably more than enough.
You are doing a great job, whether people want to acknowledge it or not.
People are missing out if they don't listen to your ideas.
Your ambition is not a weakness.