Women Face More Barriers to Promotion in Tech

Only 25% of executive or senior-level officials and managers at S&P 500 companies are women. Less than 5% of those companies have women CEOs.

Women in tech see plenty of reasons for this difference. Barriers to promotion are a major contributing factor. This is known as the “broken rung” phenomenon — a missing step on the career ladder for women on the way to leadership.

In 2021, women in tech are four times more likely than men to see gender bias as an obstacle to promotion. Nearly two in five women felt that their gender was a barrier to being considered for their next promotion. 

There are several other issues that women in tech face when it comes to promotion:

• Sixty-six percent of women felt there was no clear path forward for them at their current company.
• Forty-one percent identified the lack of a mentor as an obstacle to promotion.
• Thirty-nine percent cited limited budget as a major problem.
• Twenty-nine percent of women felt there was a lack of trust in their ability.

Another sobering finding is that among respondents who identify as Asian, Latino, Black, American Indian, Pacific Islander or “Other,” nearly two in five women (37%) see their race as a barrier to getting promoted. Women of color are also more likely than their white peers to identify gender bias, lack of trust, and budget issues as obstacles.

Despite these realities, the data highlights an inspiring truth. Sixty-two percent of all women respondents feel confident that they will earn a promotion within the next two years. However, there is the racial divide to consider when thinking about this.

Women of color are 27% less confident in their promotion prospects than white women. This is nearly three times the difference from last year when women of color felt 10% less confident. 

Another important note: Of the women of color who doubt their promotion prospects, 35% say that it’s because their companies don’t trust their abilities.  

These findings highlight the importance of looking at gender equality in the workplace through an intersectional lens. They also show that the challenges of this year have caused unequal impacts along racial lines.