Something’s wrong with the ‘broken rung’

There’s sobering news about the challenges women face in advancing their careers. Here are some of the headlines:

• It’s not the “glass ceiling” holding women back at work, new analysis finds (CBS)
• You’ve heard about the glass ceiling for women in the workplace. McKinsey says the ‘broken rung’ is the real danger (Fortune)
• Women face a ‘broken rung’ early on in the corporate ladder and are missing out on their first big promotions (Business Insider)

Thanks for reading Explore Your Career River! Subscribe for weekly inspiration.

As you can tell, the “broken rung” report issued in October drew attention to disparities between women and men promoted to management. The report found this was particularly true for women of color:

“This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted. And this gap is trending the wrong way for women of color: this year, 73 women of color were promoted to manager for every 100 men, down from 82 women of color last year. As a result of this ‘broken rung,’ women fall behind and can’t catch up.”

I would expect the Society of Human Resources Management to focus on how HR managers can fix the broken rung. But a review of the report itself and the news coverage shows that a key stakeholder group is missing from the solutions across the board: the women themselves.

I absolutely believe companies and leaders should be responsible for fixing equity issues such as the broken rung, and I’m glad McKinsey and other such groups are drawing attention to these problems. But when we only look to higher-ups for solutions, we miss the incredible power and knowledge of those facing career obstacles themselves.

Buying into the career ladder narrative can mean ceding control over your professional life to someone else’s definition of success. And this expectation — that employers make the rules and employees are just supposed to play by them — seeps into our fundamental beliefs about who has power to make change.

If I were earlier in my career looking for that first promotion to management, what could I do in response to the broken rung findings? On my own, I might:

• Ask prospective employers what their promotion policies are and who the last five people to be promoted to a management position were
• Ask my own manager what I need to do to earn a promotion and get it in writing
• Follow the advice a CEO in the Business Insider article offered companies, saying they should ask evaluators to explain their rationale for promotions — something I as an employee could request as well.

Collectively, there are even more possibilities for us to repair the broken rung. We could start a “whisper network” to share which companies were passing over qualified candidates. We could work with other employees to request (demand?) transparency in the evaluation process. We could connect and conspire to support others in developing their skills to make the leap to management.

Of course, we can opt out of the ladder altogether. Career progression does not have to mean taking on management roles. But for those who want to develop their skills in this area, we can do more than just wait for companies to fix their problems. We should insist on being part of the solution, too.

Happy navigating,
Bridget

Thanks for reading Explore Your Career River! Subscribe for weekly inspiration.