You’ve probably heard of the “glass ceiling”—the invisible barrier that prevents women from reaching senior leadership positions. But in reality, the biggest obstacle women face is the first step up to manager—or the “broken rung.” To get to gender parity, companies must fix the broken rung.

Also, when employees feel they have equal opportunity to advance and think the system is fair, they are happier with their career and plan to stay at their company longer. Employees are far more likely to see things as fair when companies have practices in place to support inclusive and unbiased hiring and promotions.

In addition, women of color, lesbian and bisexual women, and women with disabilities are having distinct—and by and large worse—experiences than women overall. Most notably, Black women and women with disabilities face more barriers to advancement, get less support from managers, and receive less sponsorship than other groups of women.

These are all key findings from the Lean In and McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2019 report that reinforces that a huge gap exists in the workplace as more women get stuck at entry level than their male counterparts, and subsequently fewer women then move through to become managers.

The report is an annual study on the state of women in corporate America. The study collected information from 329 participating organizations employing 13 million people and surveyed more than 68,500 employees to better understand their day-to-day work experiences. Researchers were also able to look back at five years of data to identify some powerful trends.

Here’s a snapshot of the key findings

The glass ceiling is not the biggest obstacle women face; it’s the “broken rung.”

Conventional wisdom says that women hit a “glass ceiling” as they advance that prevents them from reaching senior leadership positions. In reality, the biggest obstacle that women face is the first step up to manager—the “broken rung.” For every 100 men hired and promoted to manager, only 72 women are hired and promoted. This broken rung results in more women getting stuck at the entry level and fewer women becoming managers. As a result, there are significantly fewer women to advance to higher levels. If companies fix the broken rung, we’ll add one million more women to management in corporate America over the next five years—setting off a chain reaction that will eventually lead to parity across the entire pipeline.

Together, opportunity and fairness are the biggest predictors of employee satisfaction.

Employees universally value opportunity and fairness. Across demographic groups, when employees feel they have equal opportunity to advance and think the system is fair, they are happier with their career, plan to stay at their company longer, and are more likely to recommend it as a great place to work. Manager support, sponsorship, and impartial hiring and promotion practices are key elements in creating a workplace that delivers opportunity and fairness to everyone. And given employees universally care about fairness, companies may also benefit from reframing

Women’s experiences are often shaped by other aspects of their identity.

Women of color, lesbian and bisexual women, and women with disabilities are having distinct—and by and large worse—experiences than women overall. Most notably, Black women and women with disabilities face more barriers to advancement and receive far less support than other groups of women. Women with disabilities also face far more everyday discrimination than women without disabilities: they are significantly more likely to have their judgment questioned, be interrupted, have their ideas co-opted, and hear demeaning remarks directed at them or people like them.

Read the full report and share these findings with your network using our social toolkit with suggested social language and assets.

What your organization can do

The report includes data-driven recommendations for companies, as well as insights into the practices that have the biggest impact on employee happiness and retention. Additionally, as you know, Lean In offers two programs that can help.

50 Ways to Fight Bias helps companies combat bias in hiring and promotions and empower employees to challenge bias when they see it. At the core of the program is a card-based activity that highlights 50 specific examples of gender bias in the workplace and offers research-backed recommendations for what to do. 95% of employees who’ve participated in the program say they are more committed to taking action.

Lean In Circles are helping companies develop women to promote into management roles. Lean In Circles bring women together in small groups to develop skills and provide peer-to-peer mentorship. 86% of members credit their Circle with a positive change in their lives and say they’re more likely to think that their company is doing what it takes to improve gender diversity.

Find out more