Gender Empowerment Issues

The data is clear: when companies are committed to women, sustained progress is achievable. Today, in partnership with McKinsey & Company, Lean In released their 11th annual Women in the Workplace report — the largest study on the state of women in corporate America. And this year’s report shows corporate America is overlooking women. Only half of companies prioritize women’s career advancement, and that number falls below half for women of color. What’s really worrisome is that 2 in 10 companies are placing “no or low” priority on advancing women — and that number is 3 in 10 for women of color. Some are also scaling back flexible work and career development programs designed to support women’s advancement. Why does this matter? When companies take their foot off the gas, progress may stall, and women could lose access to opportunities before they even have a fair shot at reaching the top. But here’s the most important finding: When women get the same sponsorship and manager support as men, the ambition gap disappears.

24% of women entrepreneurs are unaware of government schemes designed to support them. While entrepreneurship is often praised for its independence and inventiveness, it is not without its hurdles, especially for women. This lack of awareness can lead to several issues: - Missed opportunities for financial aid and grants - Unnecessary struggles with regulations and compliance - Limited access to mentorship and networking opportunities - Missed growth prospects due to a lack of resources - Additional hurdles in scaling their businesses - Higher susceptibility to market volatility without safety nets But here’s the silver lining: the tide is turning. - Awareness campaigns, - Educational programs, and - Community-led initiatives are filling this void. To all the women #entrepreneurs out there, knowledge is power. Staying informed about available resources helps you navigate challenges and thrive because when women succeed in business, we all succeed. What challenges have you faced as a woman entrepreneur? Share your experiences or tips below—let’s support each other in this journey! #womenentrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #chinukala

"Women have to fight for their worth, not only in the society, not only in the workplace, but also in the family."  (45-year-old woman, urban South Africa) Gallup and Porticus have partnered to explore gender power imbalances that shape women’s lives in five African countries. The new report, "Gender Power in Africa: Analysis of the Imbalances That Shape Women’s Lives", synthesizes recent World Poll data with scholarly and policy research on gender equality in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, delving into the drivers of gender dynamics and examining contributors to gender imbalances in sub-Saharan Africa. The report highlights obstacles to gender equality reforms, such as social pressures, gender-based violence and limited government resources -- emphasizing the need for further research to inform inclusive and effective policies. The full report can be downloaded here: https://lnkd.in/d6KM9EUm Key findings: https://lnkd.in/dN26z5Ff Many thanks to all our panellists and partners who helped launch this important work: Nkem Khumbah, Sakina Kamwendo, Jessica Annor, Rita Anyumba and Patrick Godana.

𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟭 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀! 👩💼 Women at entry‑level are far less likely than men to become managers. ➡️ Only 1 in 3 entry‑level people managers are women. 📉 They are also less likely to receive support from senior leadership, leaving many without the guidance that accelerates careers. 🚀 As a result, far more entry‑level men are placed on promotion paths. Yet, when women do serve as people managers, they are just as likely to aspire to promotion as men. 🤖 Another barrier is less exposure to AI at entry‑level roles, which risks widening the skills gap in the very technologies shaping the future of work, according to a new interesting research published by McKinsey & Company and Lean In using data from pipeline data from 124 organizations employing approximately 3 million people, surveyed 70 companies on their HR policies and practices, conducted interviews with 62 HR executives, and collected insights from 9,500+ employees. ✅ 𝙈𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬:  I find these results deeply worrying. For 11 consecutive years, women at every level have been less likely than men to seek promotion; not because they lack motivation, but because they lack the career support, mentorship, and exposure that make advancement feel possible. The “Broken Rung” at entry level continues to block progress, and now we see AI exposure is strongly linked to optimism about its impact, this disparity risks widening both confidence and opportunity gaps. I worry that without systemic change, we are building a future where women remain sidelined not by choice, but by design. 🙏 Thank you McKinsey & Company Lean In researchers team for these insightful findings: Rachel Schall Thomas Mary Noble-Tolla 🔑What would change if every entry‑level woman had the same access to mentorship, leadership support, and AI exposure as her male peers? #GenderEquity #CareerDevelopment #women #promotion

Just having more women CEOs is not enough. If they don’t get access to opportunities and funding like their male counterparts. Studies show that men often start businesses with nearly double the capital of their female counterparts and only a fraction of small business loans go to women-led businesses. Challenges like societal expectations, limited access to financial services and restricted financial independence hold back many women from accessing what they need. This is what can be done to bridge this gap: —> Building financial confidence through workshops can help make independent financial decisions. Many loan programs for women come with support through mentorship, helping women not only secure funding but also succeed in their businesses. —> When household responsibilities are shared fairly, women have more flexibility to focus on their careers or businesses. This allows them to try adventures beyond societal expectations, ask for what they need and follow their dreams freely. —> Banks with streamlined processes, financial products and services can become helpful resources for women entrepreneurs. Microfinance and community development programs offer collateral-free loans, making it easier for women to access funding without additional assets. Every business needs capital to grow and nothing should stop women from accessing the funding they deserve. We need to build a space where financial literacy is given enough importance and women have access to funding and support systems to bridge the barriers and build what they want. In what other ways do you think we can support women entrepreneurs? #womenentrepreneurship #financialliteracy

As leaders from government, the corporate sector and civil society gathered for #COP29, it is essential that they recognize that 753 million women in the most climate-affected countries lack even basic financial tools to protect their families and livelihoods. At the same time, 880 million lack access to emergency digital payments in a crisis. Despite the immense challenges they face, women are often at the forefront of climate response, supporting communities, managing resources, and leading sustainable practices. Policymakers, financial services providers, civil society, and YOU have a role to play in ensuring that women’s financial resilience can be a critical part of building their climate resilience.    Women's World Banking’s new publication, Finance, Climate, and Gender: Empowering Women Agents of Change, spotlights solutions that prioritize women’s #FinancialResilience in climate-challenged regions. To address these issues effectively, financial systems must integrate targeted support, bundling services like savings, credit, insurance, and digital payments with community-based training and #FinancialLiteracy. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gU_HNgEz 

Are we about to roll back progress for women at work? This year, only 50% of companies prioritize women’s career advancement - and 2 in 10 place low or no priority at all. For women of colour, that number rises to 3 in 10. At the same time, we’re seeing an ‘ambition gap’ emerge - not because women lack drive, but because they lack equal sponsorship, advocacy, and career support. When women receive the same career support that men do, this gap to advance falls away. Yet women at both ends of the pipeline are still held back by less sponsorship and manager advocacy. The report finds: 🔹Only 31% of women at entry level have sponsors, vs. 45% of men - leaving women at a disadvantage from the start. Women get less of the sponsorship that opens doors - despite the fact that employees with sponsors are promoted at nearly twice the rate of those without. 🔹50% of mid-career Asian women report that no one in leadership has advocated for them, including connecting them to helpful contacts, putting them forward for promotion, or recommending them for stretch assignments - far higher than for other women at this level. 🔹Only 26% of women say their manager has advocated for them or their work. Women in leadership receive less consistent manager support across key advancement actions, and since managers play a critical role in progression, these gaps may limit women’s opportunities at the top. 🔹Young women are particularly ambitious: at entry level, women under 30 are more interested in being promoted than young men. However, among employees over 40 who are still at entry level, ambition drops sharply - 52% of women want to advance, compared to 71% of men - a decline linked to significantly less career support. This is a solvable problem, but it requires a greater investment in women’s careers at a time when a number of companies may be deprioritizing them. Some have already scaled back programs beneficial to women like remote work, formal sponsorship, and targeted career development, and HR leaders worry about the long-term impact of changes like these for women. Yet many companies are scaling back what works - remote work, formal sponsorship, and targeted career development - putting years of progress at risk. Companies that prioritize gender diversity see bigger gains. For companies that lost focus this year, 2026 should be the year of recommitting to women in the workplace - not as a DEI checkbox, but as a leadership and performance priority. Based on insights from 124 organizations, representing ~3 million employees, including surveys of 9,500 employees and interviews with 62 HR leaders across Corporate America.

“Bakubiza ngomama womjovo (They call you mother of the injection).” These words echoed across girls narratives as they wrestle with making reproductive choices in Rural Mthwalume in KwaZulu-Natal. If a girl finishes Grade 12 without getting pregnant, she gets mocked and ridiculed. Yet, if she gets pregnant, she is shamed and shunned. Our new article with Thembeka Myende, published in the journal Culture, Health & Sexuality examines how rural schoolgirls experience deep anxiety around contraception, fertility, and their bodies. These fears are often dismissed as ignorance — but our research shows they are rational responses to contradictory social pressures. In these communities, motherhood is expected and celebrated. At the same time, girls who use contraception are mocked, shamed, and policed — by peers, families, and even clinics. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with 48 rural girls, we show how reproductive anxiety is produced through gossip, ridicule, clinic surveillance, and long-standing mistrust of reproductive health systems. Girls are told to delay pregnancy — yet punished when they try. This is not a story about “bad choices.” It is a story about gendered control, institutional failure, and the moral regulation of Black girls’ bodies. If we are serious about adolescent sexual and reproductive health, we must move beyond information campaigns — and centre dignity, care, and girls’ lived realities. The paper is available on the link below: https://lnkd.in/d8nStntZ

I’ve read Women in the Workplace 2025 (https://lnkd.in/ewnu6gHv) , and I need to say this plainly: The problem is not women’s ambition. The problem is what corporate America is willing to invest in women’s careers. I am supremely disappointed at the analysis from the very bleak backwards slide in corporate America. After a decade of massive progress for women at the highest levels of corporate life, from 10% to 34% on public boards, from 12 to 380 women run venture firms in the same period, there is no lack of  ambition. But it just got significantly harder with the hostile anti-DEI efforts and the massive exodus of women, especially black women from the workforce. This report shows only about half of companies are prioritizing women’s career advancement, and even fewer are prioritizing the advancement of women of color. And when companies deprioritize women, the “ambition” conversation becomes a convenient distraction. Here’s the part too many people will gloss over: the report also makes clear that when women receive the same career support men do, the “ambition gap” disappears. So no, women aren’t “less driven.” Women are less supported. Women are less sponsored. Women are less advocated for. And then companies pull the very levers that drive advancement: • 25% of companies scaled back or discontinued remote/hybrid work options. • 13% scaled back formal sponsorship programs, and 13% scaled back career development tailored for women. Let’s talk about sponsorship for a second: employees with sponsors are promoted at nearly twice the rate of those without (65% vs. 35% over the last two years). That’s not a “soft” issue. That’s a growth strategy. We don’t need another cycle of blaming women for a system that keeps closing doors. Women are not the risk. Rolling back opportunity is.

In today's digital age, access to technology is not just a luxury—it's a necessity for economic participation, education, and social inclusion. However, the gender gap in digital access remains a significant barrier, particularly for women in low- and middle-income countries. A recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) highlights that a lack of formal identification is one of the key challenges women face in accessing the digital world. Without a government-issued ID, many women cannot register mobile SIM cards, access digital services, or open bank accounts. This gap is more pronounced in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where cultural norms further restrict women's mobility and access to administrative services. The lack of access to mobile phones and digital skills compounds these challenges, limiting women's participation in the digital economy and, by extension, their economic empowerment. The consequences of this divide are profound. Excluding women from the digital economy not only limits their access to job opportunities and financial services but also hinders global economic growth. The CSIS report estimates that closing the gender gap in digital access could boost global GDP by $1.5 trillion by 2025. However, achieving this requires coordinated efforts from governments, the private sector, and civil society to dismantle the structural barriers that prevent women from fully engaging in the digital ecosystem. The gap in digital literacy is another major hurdle. In regions where women have access to mobile phones and the internet, they often lack the skills needed to leverage these tools effectively. This underlines the importance of investing in digital literacy programs tailored to women and girls, particularly in vulnerable communities. The report also emphasizes that digital tools and infrastructure must be designed with women in mind. When women are excluded from the development of digital systems, biases can be unintentionally introduced, further exacerbating the digital divide. To build a more inclusive digital ecosystem, gender equity must be at the forefront of every decision in designing digital public infrastructure. Bridging the digital gender divide is not only a matter of fairness but also a critical economic imperative. By improving access to formal identification, promoting affordable and safe mobile phone ownership, and investing in digital literacy for women, we can unlock vast economic potential and drive inclusive growth worldwide. Read the report for more information. #DigitalInclusion #GenderEquality #WomenInTech #DigitalEmpowerment #TechForGood #EconomicEmpowerment #Inclusion #DigitalDivide