11 Key Statistics on Why It’s Necessary to have Women in Leadership Roles (in 2022)

As we approach International Women’s Day in March, it sets as a reminder about the social, cultural, economic, and leadership achievements women have made over the past year. However, this day shouldn’t just be a moment of celebration (or a social media marketing ploy) but an opportunity to share data and statistics about women in leadership roles. How women have helped organizations rebound from the pandemic successfully and how future employees are keeping a close eye on the company’s representation of diversity across the organization.

In this article, I list 11 key statistics from studies and surveys that show how having women in leadership roles is not only vital for the inner workings of the organization but to the public’s perception of their brand. 

Starting with the organization, how women business leaders stepped up to the plate during the pandemic. 

Good for the Organization and Employees

As the world slowly creeps into a post-pandemic existence, there’s evidence that women in the workplace helped usher companies and businesses over the pandemic setbacks. 

A 2021 study, “Women in the Workplace,” conducted by Leanin.org and Mckinsey, surveyed 65,000 people. The responses indicated that women managers over men showed more support or took action in response during the height of the pandemic.

• 31% of women managers provided emotional support to employees versus 19% of men 
• 61% of Women in management or leadership roles checked in on the well-being of employees compared to 54% of men. 
• Women managers are more likely to help employees navigate work-life challenges by 5% than men in management roles ( 29% of women versus 24% of men).
• Women leaders spend more time contributing to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts (11% of women compared with 7% of men).

And although the facts speak for themselves about the positive impacts women in leadership roles can make for the organization, we must be careful not to assume every woman in a management or leadership role will subscribe to the same type of response or action. 

We want to be careful not to expect or hold women leaders into nurturing or caretaker roles. It may come more naturally or inherent behavior for women, it doesn’t mean that all women will take action or respond in the same way. But, this doesn’t make them less effective as a leader.

Good For Women Employees

Suppose you were to take a quick audit of female employees to women in leadership roles and left with imbalanced results. In that case, the repercussions aren’t just hurting the employer’s brand public perception (which I dive into further below). Still, it can also have a negative impact on women employees and their trajectory in the organization.    

KPMG, a globally recognized audit firm, conducted a Women in Leadership study with over 3000 college and working women participants and found that female colleagues, role models, and professional networks play a critical role in advancing women’s leadership.

•  67% of women learned the most important lessons about leadership from other women.
•  82% percent of professional working women believe networking with female leaders will help them advance their careers. 
• 86% of women in the report felt encouraged when they saw women in leadership roles and believed they could get there themselves. 

So, in order to harness and encourage more leadership from female employees, they need to see and interact with other women alongside them, in an organized hierarchy, or through networking programs across the organization with other business leaders. 

Companies can’t expect the onus on the employee but need to take proactive measures to reexamine what type of mentorship or networking is available for their female employees and, more importantly, who is at the top.

Good For Recruiting Talent

It is without a doubt that a large portion of a company’s success relies on the talent of its employees. And to grow, scale, and thrive for any company, means recruiting talent that can help take the organization to the next level. 

A report about Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace by Glassdoor.com and the Harris Poll surveyed over 2700 working or job-seeking adults. The results show how important diversity and inclusion come into play when a job seeker is looking to apply to a job company or when they are considering accepting an offer. 

• 1 in 3 employees and job seekers (32%) would not apply for a job at a company that lacks diversity in its workforce.
• 3 in 4 employees and job seekers (76%) report a diverse workforce is an essential factor when evaluating companies and job offers. 

And so, if an employer brand doesn’t represent a diverse organization in both gender and race, the company could be cutting off its ability to attract top talent from all over the U.S. and globally. 

Good for the Company 

Having women in leadership roles doesn’t just bode well for the organization’s employees but can also impact the bottom line. 

And in their fourth year of reporting about diversity and inclusion in businesses, McKinsey published “Diversity Wins” in 2019. The study included participants from 1000 large companies across 15 countries. The report revealed some stunning facts linking women executives with positive business results compared to previous studies.

• Companies with gender diversity in their executive teams are 25% more likely to achieve above-average profitability.
• Companies with 30% or higher with women executives were more likely to outperform companies that only had less than 30%, and in turn, companies with lower than 10% representation or none at all underperformed comparatively.

And even with these findings, only 15% of women hold an executive role in the same case study that covered 1000 companies over various industries in business. There is still a significant disparity of women having leadership roles in companies, translating to a missed opportunity in business results. 

The Final Takeaway- Women in Leadership Roles

By providing 11 key stats about women in leadership roles and how they can positively impact the company’s culture and profits, I hope this set of findings doesn’t end up in another company initiative deck or be used for a social media post or tweet only.

It will take leadership to learn how to gain a new perspective on how to see their female employees in non-traditional ways. And yet, at the same moment of being more astute about the employees, there should be recognition for women in leadership roles to be recognized, promoted, and rewarded for their ability to rise to the occasion during these unprecedented times. 

Learning and knowing about these key statistics is one thing, but taking real action towards adding women into leadership roles goes beyond celebrating them for one day; but can set up the company for long-term success.