The Broken Rung Dilemma

Contributed by Lily Crager

What if 1 in 4 women at your company packed up their desks or powered down their virtual setup and left? I’d likely look something out of a 1950 movie when men dominated the workplace almost entirely.


Concerningly, that’s the looming crisis we are facing as McKinsey found that nearly 25% of women are considering a downshift, if not a full exit of the workplace completely due to the pandemic. However, even if we could go back eight months prior to the economic meltdown and the global health crisis, women in the workplace have faced an unsettling corporate bias called the “broken rung”.


This discrepancy refers to the faulty first step in a women’s career climb. There is an enormous disparity with entry-level managerial positions. Women held just 38% of entry-level managerial jobs as opposed to men who held 62% in 2019. This is even more concerning coupled with a study revealing that men are more likely to promote other men and women are more likely to promote other women.


If you dive into the reasoning of why more men are promoted than women at the entry-level the only evidence is in gender bias. If you think of what qualifies a promotion, it’s usually something along the lines of performance metrics, work track record, or expertise. However, when entry-level promotions decisions are made an employee has only worked less than a year and some of that year was in training.


So, with short track records, hardly enough performance metrics, and amateur expertise, how are decisions made to promote entry-level employees? Based on the numbers, gender plays a part as for every 100 men promoted only 85 women are.

This disparity cascades as if fewer women are promoted to mid-level, then fewer women get the chance at a promotion to senior-level and onward.


While it’d be easy to demand corporate response, companies move at a turtle-pace when implementing social change and undoing traditional bias. It’s up to us to empower women to hurdle over this broken rung. Here are a few things to do:

• Mentorship. You are five times more likely to get promoted if you have a mentor. So, get your networking cap on and start sending those polished resumes and introductory emails. You can read through some tips on how to master virtual networking in this guide.
• Continuous Learning. Make continuous learning a hallmark of your professional career. You become indispensable when you are a problem solver, as opposed to a problem finder. Whether it’s attending business school or simply reading through an industry book learn how to fix problems by always learning.
• Know your worth. The thing that will carry you through promotions, slip-ups, tough clients, or accolades is yourself. If you have a strong belief in your work, you know what you deserve and can stand up against any bias. Self-worth is at the center of female advancement.

Despite the concerning impact of the pandemic on women in the workplace and the challenge of the “broken rung”, there are still indicators that women will continue to advance in the workplace. There is a rising number of women attending business school and women representation on company boards is at a record high. Proving that in the face of adversity, an empowered attitude is necessary to propel ahead.


Sources: McKinsey | GreatBusinessSchool | PayScale | Guider