Changing companies’ minds about women

McKINSEY QUARTERLY

September 2011By Joanna Barsh and Lareina Yee Leaders who are serious about getting more women into senior management need a hard-edged approach to overcome the invisible barriers holding them back.Despite significant corporate commitment to the advancement of women’s careers, progress appears to have stalled. The percentage of women on boards and senior-executive teams remains stuck at around 15 percent in many countries, and just 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women.The last generation of workplace innovations—policies to support women with young children, networks to help women navigate their careers, formal sponsorship programs to ensure professional development—broke down structural barriers holding women back. The next frontier is toppling invisible barriers: mind-sets widely held by managers, men and women alike, that are rarely acknowledged but block the way.Click here for free registration to continue reading...