Women In Leadership Pipeline Has Hollowed Out In The Middle

The leadership pipeline for women has hollowed out in the middle, according to a new global study “Women in leadership: Why perception outpaces the pipeline—and what to do about it” from the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value (IBV) and Chief.

The study is of 2,500 organizations in 12 countries and 10 industries. In Kenya, it found the number of women at the C-suite level at 11% and the Board level at 10%. This is below the global representation as it is 12% for both C-suite and Board levels.

Kenya does have a higher representation of women in junior professional/specialist roles when compared to the global average of 41% to 40% respectively. However, the global pipeline for top leadership positions still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

There is even more stagnation in senior professional and non-executive managerial positions as the global percentage of women holding these positions stands at 30% and in Kenya at 29%.

In addition, fewer than half (47%) of Kenyan organizations (2%) higher than the global figure of (45%) surveyed in the report indicated they have made advancing more women into leadership roles a top, formal business priority.

“While we’re pleased to see slight progress in the representation of women in junior professional/specialist roles in Kenya when compared to the global levels, it’s imperative that companies do more to fill the pipeline that leads to an increase in C-suite and Board level positions including furthering the participation in junior and specialists roles,” said Lindsay Kaplan, Co-Founder, and Chief Brand Officer of Chief.

“Women are significantly underrepresented at nearly every level of the workforce. If companies prioritize gender diversity across their entire organizations through policies, investments, and a culture that meaningfully supports women, we’ll see a transformative impact — equity for everyone in the workplace and stronger, more resilient businesses.”

“Our previous research has shown that enabling equity and inclusion gives organizations a competitive edge, yet many local companies do not act as if their success depends on it,” said Caroline Mukiira, General Manager, of IBM East Africa. “To thrive in a rapidly changing world, Kenyan organizations must prioritize advancing women – and all historically under-represented groups – and take action to challenge structural barriers and unconscious bias.”

The study also found:

• Optimism is rising, but it doesn’t reflect reality. Respondents estimate their industry will see gender parity in leadership in 8 years, compared to 2019 when the average industry estimate was 54 years. But the reality is, at the current rate of change based on survey data, gender parity is still decades away.
• Structural barriers and unconscious bias continue to hinder women’s advancement. Since the height of the pandemic, more organizations have implemented career development planning for women, diversity training, and the creation of women’s networking groups. However, biases persist – for example, when asked if women with dependent children are as dedicated to their jobs as women without children, the majority of respondents say yes, this is what leaders in their organization believe, except for male managers—only about 40% agreed.
• The attributes perceived as critical for leadership also remain gendered. Respondents shared men are primarily valued for creativity and being results-oriented with integrity, and expected women to be strategic and bold but also people-oriented.
• Geopolitical developments have a disproportionate impact on women at work. Respondents rank political developments in the country and the region as the most serious disruption facing women, in recognition of the immense, lasting toll it has taken on them. Globally, the lasting effects of the pandemic were number one.

“The research data shows the hollowing out in the middle is real,” said Caroline. “Structural changes, including reimagining leadership tracks and role descriptions, improving pay transparency, and setting representation goals, can open new pathways for women to progress to more senior roles.”

The study also presents a roadmap for sustainable progress based on leadership practices gathered from the research findings, including:

• Reframe women’s leadership advancement in the language of business results, such as quantifying the concrete economic gains that can accrue from righting gender imbalances.
• Give your strategy teeth, such as putting specific directives and measures behind your organization’s action plan, like setting measurable goals for women’s advancement.
• Enact an action plan aimed at driving gender equity across the full leadership pipeline, like going beyond awareness training to using experiential learning techniques like role-playing and reverse mentoring to help shift biases.

Re-design roles at the top that work for top talent, for example, limiting hiring criteria to a core set of gender-neutral requirements.