Women have made great strides in the workplace over the last several decades: they now make up 6.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs, the highest percentage ever recorded in the history of the Fortune 500. But there’s still a long way to go.
In an effort to shed light on perceptions and experiences related to female leadership, Comparably compiled data from more than 24,000 employees in and out of the technology world. The data, which comes from the responses of thousands of employees at small, mid-size, and large public and private companies, was collected between March 2016 and September 2017.
Respondents were asked the following:
— Do you think there are enough women in leadership positions at your company?
— Do you feel that you’ve been held back in your career because of your gender?
— Do you prefer to work with women or men?
— What do you think would most improve office cultures across different companies?
— Does your company encourage open discussion of workplace issues related to gender and diversity?
— Have you ever been sexually harassed at work?
Check out the results and our methodology below.
A majority of men say there are enough women in leadership roles
— 60% of men and 49% of women in all industries say there are enough women in leadership roles at their company.
— In the tech industry, the rates were slightly lower: 58% of men and 46% of women say there are enough women in leadership roles at their company.
— That means 40% of men and 51% of women in all industries say there aren’t enough women in leadership roles at their companies (or 42% of men and 54% of women in tech).
— The more educated you are, the more likely you are to feel that there aren’t enough women in leadership roles. Workers with a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral degree most believe that there aren’t enough women in leadership at their companies (47% of them said there are vs. 69% of those with a high school diploma, some college, or an Associate’s degree.)
— The departments where people feel there aren’t enough women in leadership. In tech, people who work in HR, business development, and marketing felt least confident in there being enough women in leadership roles at their company.
Nearly half of all women feel gender has held them back in their careers
— 46% of women in all industries say their gender has held them back at work. The rate is slightly higher in the tech sector, where 50% of women say their gender has held them back. In industries outside of tech, 41% of women say their gender has held them back.
Non-tech
Tech
— 1 in 4 millennials feel gender has held them back in their careers. Overall, 23% of men and women aged 18 to 35 say they feel their gender has held them back in their careers. That’s a higher concentration than workers in the 36-45 age group (19%), and mostly in line with workers aged 46 and up (22%).
— The three tech departments where women feel most held back. Women who work in the following departments at technology firms reported the highest rates of feeling held back in their careers: finance (68%), engineering (63%) and executive (63%). These rates are for all age groups.
There’s an even split between those who prefer to work with men or women
— When asked whether they prefer to work with men or women, half of people in all industries (including tech) chose women.
— By industry. At tech companies, workers in communications, product, and design showed the highest rates of choosing women over men. Workers in admin, IT, and customer support showed the lowest rates of choosing women over men.
— Consistent across all ages. The rate of workers who chose women over men remained consistent across all age groups.
What’s the one thing that would most improve culture? Better leaders.
— 35% of all workers said having better leadership would improve company culture. That was the most popular answer. The results were the same for workers specifically in the technology industry.
— Men and women answered nearly identically. Men were slightly more likely to choose “better leaders” and “more transparency,” while women were slightly more likely to choose “more communication and “more diverse employees.”
— Youngest workers were most likely to choose “more communication.” Workers across all levels chose “better leaders” as the No. 1 priority except for workers 18 to 25, who ranked “more communication” as their top pick.
1 in 4 women has been sexually harassed at work
— 26% of women in all industries say they have been sexually harassed at work.
— The rate is somewhat higher in tech (28% of women) vs. non-tech (24% of women).
— The highest rates by department. 33% of women in IT at tech companies say they have been sexually harassed, the highest rate of any department. Women in business development, operations, and product reported the next highest rates, at 32%, 31%, and 31% respectively. Sexual harassment rates for men, while at 7% overall, appeared to be prevalent in certain sectors as well: 20% of men in legal roles and 17% in administrative roles reported having been sexually harassed.
— Rates of sexual harassment appeared to be stronger among the older set of respondents. Sixteen percent of men and women aged 56 to 65 reported having ever been sexually harassed at work, compared to the approximately 13% averaged by men and women aged 18 to 50. (Note: These rates reflect women and men.)
— Sexual harassment rates appeared to decline the longer a person spent at one particular company. Rates for workers just starting out at their company were at 17%; rates for workers with a decade or more of experience at their company were at 11%.
— African American and Hispanic/Latino workers reported the highest rates of facing sexual harassment, at 20% and 18%, respectively. Rates of sexual harassment were reported at 13% among whites and 7% among Asians.
Methodology
— Questions were in Yes/No, True/False, 1-10 scale, and multiple choice format.
— Results are based on 24,000+ responses from workers across the technology sector.
— Employees hail from small, mid-size, and large companies, predominantly at tech companies.
— Data was collected between March 2016 and September 2017.
