While women have made workplace gains over the last 10 years, they still face significant challenges in their roles and careers.
This is the primary finding from the "Women in the Workplace" report, published Sept. 17 by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Co.
For the report, analysts collected information from 281 companies across the U.S. and Canada, surveyed more than 15,000 employees from 27 companies, and interviewed 27 women and non-binary individuals, including women of color, LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities.
Companies from the private, public and social sectors submitted data for the report, including 26 companies grouped under "healthcare systems and services."
Women's representation has increased across the pipeline over the past 10 years, according to the report. Women today make up 29% of C-suite positions, 29% of senior vice president positions and 34% of vice president positions, compared to 17%, 23% and 27% in 2015, respectively. The authors attributed progress for women in senior leadership primarily to a reduction in line roles (positions with profit-and-loss responsibility and/or a focus on core operations).
But women continue to experience more competence-based microaggressions than their male counterparts, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of working women reported having their judgment questioned in their area of expertise. Twenty-six percent of men said the same.
Additionally, 39% of women reported being interrupted or spoken over more than others. Twenty percent of men said the same. And 18% of women said they had been mistaken for someone at a much lower level than they are, compared to 10% of men.
"Men and women are less likely to be interrupted or spoken over than they were five years ago — a sign that increased awareness around an issue can lead to cultural change," the report authors wrote. "However, women remain twice as likely as men to experience this."
The report also found that women today are just as likely to experience "othering" microaggressions as they were five years ago, particularly women of color, LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities.
Overall, the report authors estimate that at the current rate of progress, it will take nearly 50 years to reach parity for all women in corporate America.
Read the full report here.