There are a number of reasons why women’s careers can stall. It’s still the case that men are likely to be promoted three times faster than women.
When I’ve worked with women I’ve found that these are the most common factors:
- Imposter syndrome: Many women feel like they don’t belong in their careers, even when they are highly qualified and successful. This can lead them to hold themselves back and not pursuing opportunities that they are more thena capable of.
- Lack of visibility: Women can find networking difficult. Either because it is happening when they have other responsibilites, or because it is part of the old boy network (golf days, sailing days etc) that are not very inviting. Women can also struggle to ask for help feeling that they might appear weak.This can make it difficult to get the attention of decision-makers and be considered for promotions.
- Bias towards male leaders. It was Tomas Chamurro-Premuzic in his provocative book who outlined how much our bias towards even incompetent men over competent women is prevalant in the workplace. Unconscious bias can play a role in women’s careers being stalled. That doesn’t mean women can’t get ahead, but it does mean you have to navigate a different landscape to your male colleagues.
If your career is stalling, it’s important to be aware of these common reasons. Once you know what the potential challenges are, you can start to take steps to overcome them.
My book The Female Edge was written exactly to address these issues. If you want some inspiration to move your career forward, download a free chapter and find out how the EDGE model can get your career back on track.