women in the workplace 2025 report

About the Study

A total of 324 organizations employing approximately 1.4 million people across India, Nigeria, and Kenya opted into LeanIn and McKinsey's study on gender equity. Each organization provided talent pipeline data on the number of men and women across different levels of seniority as of December 31, 2023. LeanIn and McKinsey also interviewed 78 women from all 3 countries across different levels of seniority and a variety of sectors to create a holistic image of what's going on in the workforce.

India: Barriers at Entry Level and Managerial Promotion

This report dove into where the bottleneck lies for women on the corporate ladder. For India? Well, despite women comprising nearly half of the university students in the country, they only make up one-third of all entry-level roles. This data suggests that there's a problem right at the start of women's careers that needs to be addressed.

Women in India also lose 9 percentage points at the promotion from entry-level to manager, suggesting significant barriers in upward advancement. In fact, a man in an entry level role in India is 2.4x more likely to be promoted into a managerial role than a woman. It should be no surprise then that women are 1.3x more likely to leave their positions than men.

However, for the women who do advance, they seem to reach a point of parity in more senior roles. As some of the women interviewed for the report mention, they felt they had to work harder than their male colleagues to get where they are - unsurprising to any woman who's ever operated in a male-dominated space. Amy Poehler said it best when she declared one of the reasons she started her podcast is because she's "watched so many men do the bare minimum," that in an effort of equality she wants to give about 25%. "Enough with 100%," she jokes. Even if they have to give 100%, at least there seems to be a path to the top for women in India.

Nigeria: Barriers at Entry Level Followed by Parity

Nigeria was a fascinating case study because, for the most part, once a woman entered the private sector she not only stayed but advanced at a fairly consistent rate.

On top of that, women in Nigeria are 1.3x more likely to get promoted from senior manager to VP than men. The key to advancing equity in this country is by offering more opportunities for entry level roles for women - they've proven how successful and valuable they can be to an organization if given the chance.

Kenya: Strong Representation Early Followed by Less Support

In Kenya, gender representation starts off pretty strong. Women interviewed highlight that equal opportunity practices have played a crucial role in achieving a promising start for hiring young women at the start of their careers.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. There is a broken rung to management for private sector employees, and women in more senior roles report a "boy's club" vibe - picture having to learn to golf to network (funny story on this at the end). There's also the matter of family responsibilities; women cite the difficult balance between being a mom and ascending the corporate ladder. Further, a lot of the time promotions are contingent on relocating, something that many women don't want to do.

Conclusion: The Path to Closing the Leadership Gap is Different for Each Country

All 3 places need different solutions to reach gender parity at the top of the corporate funnel. I'm going to go full Rory Gilmore and quote Tolstoy for a second, but this analysis reminds me of the "every happy family is the same; every unhappy family is unhappy in different ways." Apologies if I butchered the quote, but you get what I'm saying: there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution here, and gender equity - or lack thereof - can take many different forms. Here's a breakdown of the bottlenecks in each country:

Perhaps employers in India and Nigeria can learn a thing or two from Kenya's equal opportunity programs offered to young women at the start of their careers. Kenya can then hear a little about how Nigeria has managed to keep promotions for women so steady as they ascend upward.

And that's the point of all of this: learning from one another and understanding the unique challenges women in each country face can elevate all of us. That's why Tennie loves LeanIn and McKinsey's work so much: the first step to finding a solution is understanding the problem. As always, thank you to these organizations for their brilliant work.

Now for personal story time:

I started a new job in March 2021, aka peak COVID, which means I hadn't met anybody in person throughout the hiring process. The men on my team (because at the time all of my teammates in Chicago were men) wanted to get together, and we decided to go golfing. Honestly, I was excited for this plan - day drinking, hanging around a pretty golf course, getting fresh air. What's not to like, especially for someone who had been couped up for over a year? 

Anywho, we get to the 18th hole when one of my teammates - my boss's boss, specifically - goes, "So, Bailey, how many rounds of golf have you played?" 

I reply, "After this one? One."

We laugh, and he goes "Wow, I respect that."

I'm not advocating for golf to be the only networking solution for offices, I think (hope) we've evolved past that, but it does sometime pay to just lean into things having no idea what you're doing!