For much of the past decade, progress on gender equality at work has been slow but measurable. However, according to new research, that progress is at risk of going into reverse and the consequences for organisations are becoming impossible to ignore in the year ahead.
The latest Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, the largest and most comprehensive study of women in corporate America and Canada, reveals a troubling shift. Corporate commitment to women’s advancement is declining, career support is becoming more uneven, and for the first time since the research began, women are now less interested than men in being promoted or pursuing leadership roles.
This is not a story about women opting out. It is about systems failing to keep pace and businesses creating risks for themselves by allowing inequality to persist.
QUIET ROLLBACK OF COMMITMENTS TO EQUALITY
Only 54% of companies now say women’s career advancement is a high priority, falling to 46% for women of colour. More than one in five companies give little or no priority to advancing women, rising to nearly three in 10 for women of colour.
This represents a sharp reversal. In 2019, 87% of companies reported that gender diversity was a high priority. Today, while 67% say diversity matters and 84% say inclusion matters, far fewer are backing those statements with action on progression.
At the same time, organisations are quietly scaling back the very mechanisms that support fairness:
- 25% have reduced remote or hybrid work options
- 13% have cut flexible working hours
- 13% have reduced career development programmes with content for women
- 13% have scaled back formal sponsorship programmes
REVEALING AMBITION GAP
The message employees receive is not subtle. For the first time, an ambition gap has emerged:
- 80% of women say they want to be promoted to the next level, compared with 86% of men
- At entry level: 69% of women vs 80% of men
- At senior levels: 84% of women vs 92% of men
Yet women and men show equal commitment to their careers and similar motivation to do their best work. The gap appears not because women lack ambition, but because opportunity and support are unevenly distributed.
Senior-level women who do not want to advance are more likely than men to say they have been passed over for promotion (18% vs 12%) or that they do not see a realistic path to the top (11% vs 3%). Compared with senior men, senior women perceive a steeper, more uncertain climb to leadership.
When women receive the same sponsorship, manager advocacy and access to stretch opportunities as men, the ambition gap disappears entirely.
INEQUALITY IMPACT ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
Entry-level women begin their careers with fewer doors open:
- Only 31% have a sponsor, compared with 45% of men
- Just 30% are promoted, versus 43% of entry-level men
- Four in 10 entry-level women have not received a promotion, stretch assignment or leadership training opportunity in the past two years, compared with three in 10 men
They are also less likely to feel psychologically safe:
- 62% feel safe taking risks and making mistakes (vs 71% of men)
- 66% feel comfortable disagreeing with others (vs 71% of men)
As a result, far fewer women are placed into early people-manager roles – only a third of entry-level people managers are women – narrowing the pipeline long before leadership decisions are made.
EMERGING DIGITAL RISKS
Technology is creating new fault lines. Only 21% of entry-level women receive manager encouragement to use AI tools, compared with 33% of men. This matters beacuse employees without encouragement are far less optimistic about AI’s impact.
Just 37% of entry-level women believe AI will improve their career prospects, compared with 60% of employees overall. In a labour market where digital fluency is increasingly linked to advancement, unequal access today risks cementing inequality tomorrow.
FLEXIBILITY & FAIRNESS MATTERS
Flexible work remains essential but without safeguards, it can penalise women.
Women who work mostly remotely are far less likely to be promoted than those mostly on-site (37% vs 53%). Among entry-level employees, only 25% of mostly off-site women have been promoted in the past two years, compared with 44% of off-site men.
Flexibility alone does not create fairness. Visibility, advocacy and access still matter — and women are too often missing out.
BURNOUT & INSECURITY RISKS
These structural gaps exist against a backdrop of widespread burnout and job insecurity:
- 42% of women and 41% of men report frequent burnout
- Burnout rises to 60% among senior women
- Among senior Black women, it reaches 77%
- Around half of all employees have seriously considered leaving their organisation in the past year
At senior levels, 29% of women believe their gender will hold them back, compared with 19% of men — a signal that even those who reach leadership do not feel the system is neutral.
WORKPLACE FAIRNESS MATTERS
Despite these disparities, there is remarkable alignment on values. Around nine in 10 men and women, across all levels, agree that:
- Hiring and promotion should be free from bias
- Respect drives motivation and performance
- Diverse perspectives lead to better decisions
The trust gap lies in experience. Only 59% of entry-level women believe the best opportunities go to the most deserving employees, compared with 74% of entry-level men. Similar gaps persist at mid-career.
HOW TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD IN 2026
The risks of inaction are clear: weakened leadership pipelines, higher attrition, lower engagement and poorer decision-making. To level the playing field in 2026, organisations must:
- Recommit to women’s advancement as a core business priority
- Formalise sponsorship and manager advocacy
- Ensure flexibility does not reduce visibility or progression
- Close early-career opportunity gaps
- Provide equal access to future skills, including AI
- Track and act on promotion, burnout and retention data
The data is unequivocal. When organisations fail to level the playing field, women’s ambition does not vanish, it is constrained. And when that happens, businesses shrink their own talent pools. The decisions leaders make heading into 2026 will shape who leads next. Companies that get this right will access the full capability of their workforce and outpace competitors. Those that don’t risk finding that the future of leadership has quietly passed them by. Check out the full report here.
Practical guidance on inclusive leadership, workplace fairness and equitable career progression can be found across Fair Play Talks. Check out the examples below.
RELATED ARTICLES
From 2026 women must make up at least 40% of non-executive boards and 33% of all directors of listed companies, confirmed the European Parliament.
One in seven female managers say their gender had made it harder for them to succeed at work, reveals report.
When companies increase the number of women on their boards of directors, the investment efficiency of those companies increases, reveals report.
Around 80% of women worldwide face ageism in the workplace, a new survey has revealed.
Despite slow overall growth, racial and gender diversity on corporate boards is making modest gains.
Shareholder activists are increasingly targeting chief executives and women CEOs are paying a disproportionate price, reveals a new study.
Meaningful work is key to helping women to thrive at work, according to a new study.
Asian and Latinx women remain underrepresented on corporate boards, according to report.
Women now hold 43% of board roles and 35% of leadership positions across FTSE 350 companies without the need for quotas, marking a significant milestone in corporate diversity, study shows.
Federal rollbacks of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies introduced earlier this year have sparked deep anxiety amongst women and minority civil servants, warns report.
Sign up for our newsletter
