Repairing the Broken Rung: Overcoming Bias in the Leadership Pipeline
Women and minorities still face many barriers in attaining leadership roles. Repairing the Broken Rung is the latest comprehensive study of fairness in how organizations identify and prepare the next generation of leaders. We collected data from 129 organizations that together employ over half a million people and span most industries. We studied how these organizations identify high-potential employees (employees who show potential for a leadership role) and select successors for executive positions with a particular focus on diversity. You may or may not be surprised that, in most organizations, men are 3x more likely to be identified as high-potentials than their equally capable women colleagues, and we found unintentional discrimination in succession planning in 2/3 of the companies.
Facts about the study:
- Collected data from 129 organizations, 328 managers, across most industries, about how they identify high-potential employees (employees who show potential for a leadership role) and select successors for executive positions with a particular focus on diversity
- 90% of organizations utilize internal practices that rely on the judgement of management when identifying future leaders
- On average managers are 3x more likely to select men for having leadership potential than women
- We found unintentional discrimination against women in almost HALF of organizations and minorities in TWO-THIRDS
- For every women actively groom for a leadership position, they groom almost TWICE as many men
What’s inside the report:
- Learn how most organizations today identify the next generation of leaders
- Explore unconscious bias in perceptions of who has potential for leadership
- Understand the risk of unintentional discrimination in high-potential selection and succession planning
- Discover the steps you can take to ensure fairness in selection and development of future leaders
