Your Career, Your Move – Now More Than Ever

March 1, 2025

With the corporate and political landscape shifting, women’s fight for their place in the workplace is facing new headwinds. But there is a path forward.

By Julie Norwell

Women’s fight for their place in the workplace is facing new headwinds. But there is a path forward.

For years, corporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives have been championed as a pathway to greater opportunity for women and minorities in the workplace. U.S. companies made commitments, launched leadership programs, and pledged to build more inclusive cultures. Today, those commitments are fading fast. Under growing political pressure, DEI programs are on the chopping block at many organizations.

Without formal DEI programs, women and minorities may worry that the avenues for their career advancement are turning into dirt roads. When programs designed to dismantle systemic barriers to certain groups are dismantled themselves, what happens to the opportunities for those groups?

The truth is that women’s career success has never hinged on policies alone.

The prospects, however, may not be as grim as they might seem. Protections against workplace discrimination remain firmly in place under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Opportunity isn’t a policy, it’s a legal right. And the reality is, as well-intentioned as DEI programs are, they haven’t been terribly effective. DEI programs helped start the conversation, but they haven’t done enough to level the playing field – certainly not for women.

For 20 years, the gender pay gap has barely budged – women still earn about 80% of what men do. More women reported having their judgement questioned in their area of expertise in 2024 than in 2018. And, by some estimates, it will take almost 50 years before the number of women in senior leadership reaches parity in corporate America. While DEI programs have led to awareness and some progress, women continue to face entrenched professional obstacles.

But women still have other tools to move their careers forward.

The truth is that women’s career success has never hinged on policies alone. It has always been much more about strategic positioning, advocacy, and proactively managing one’s own professional trajectory. And these are still the key.

With the corporate and political landscape shifting, now more than ever, women shouldn’t wait for opportunities – they should create them.

Broken Rung

Creating career opportunities starts with knowing what you’re up against—and how to navigate around it.

Women have always faced barriers in the workplace, of course. Many of them are structural. For years, the glass ceiling has been the go-to metaphor for the challenges women face in reaching the top of corporate leadership. But research suggests that for many, the real problem isn’t breaking through at the highest levels—it’s getting their foot in the door at the start.

Today only 29% of senior leaders are women. The number is even worse for women of color.

McKinsey has been studying this phenomenon for 10 years. Its annual Women in the Workplace report highlights what’s known as the “broken rung”—the first step up to management, where women consistently fall behind. It finds that, despite achieving more college degrees than men, women remain less likely than men to be hired into entry-level roles. This leaves women underrepresented from the get-go. Then, at the first promotion opportunity to the manager level, only 81 women for every 100 men are promoted.

This gap at the start of women’s careers compounds over time, creating a pipeline problem. Fewer women in mid-level roles means fewer women ready to take executive positions. As a result, today only 29% of senior leaders are women. The number is even worse for women of color.

Cultural Barriers

Beyond stalled promotions, women face other well-documented barriers, too, like bias in hiring, unequal access to mentors and sponsorship, and the expectation that they must “prove” their leadership potential in ways men often don’t.

Sometimes, women hold themselves back, too – often without realizing it. Research suggests that women are less likely to advocate for themselves in the workplace. They are less likely to negotiate a raise, speak up in meetings, or position themselves for leadership opportunities. But these tendencies often stem from pernicious, embedded cultural barriers. Women who negotiate for more money, for example, are less likely to get a raise than men. Worse, women are more likely to be penalized in some way for asking at all.

In general, men who assert themselves are seen as strong. Women who assert themselves are seen as “unlikeable.” And that affects women’s “hireability.” No wonder, then, that women are less likely to advocate for themselves. This double standard forces many women to walk a tightrope – balancing ambition with likability – at the cost of their own career growth.

Social capital building is a practice that lifts all boats. And it’s an ideal way to overcome gender barriers.

Experience Capital

The systemic and cultural impediments to women’s career growth are numerous. But there are actions they can take to overcome them.

Three McKinsey consultants recommend that women build more “experience capital” – that is, the knowledge, skills, and wisdom that can be gained only on the job. They propose five tactics:

1. Find supportive employers with a strong, diverse learning culture.

Joining organizations that value learning, diversity, and have a clear strategy for winning in their industry can have a profound impact on career success. And the earlier in your career that you start work there, the better.

2. Make big, bold career moves that grow your skills.

The McKinsey researchers note that two types of moves have the greatest impact in a career. A “big move” involves starting over in a new occupation or industry. A “bold move” is when you take a job with a significant number of new skills that stretches your abilities. Both play an enormous role in the growth of your experience capital.

3. Seek out leadership and line roles.

When it comes to building experience capital, two types of positions, in particular, are career accelerators. They are leadership roles and those with profit and loss (P&L) responsibilities. Fewer women than men assume P&L roles early in their careers. But experience in this field is often desired in the C-suite, and women who have it will have an advantage.

4. Choose growing occupations and industries.

The employment market is always evolving – perhaps faster now than ever. Automation and AI will lead to declining opportunities in many fields where women employees tend to be concentrated (like customer service and support roles). Lest you become a victim of redundancy, be strategic about your career and target industries that are growing.

5. Deepen your familiarity with technology, particularly AI.

Tech skills aren’t just for tech nerds anymore. They are becoming increasingly in-demand in jobs of all types across all industries. Developing these skills is a practical way to stay relevant and should be a professional priority. Even better, become an “AI power user.” (It’s much simpler than it sounds!)

Social Capital

Social capital is another kind of capital that is exceedingly powerful in career management – and one that is often underutilized by women and men alike. It is the value of your relationships and networks. It is the potential those relationships offer as a resource to you, as well as the potential you offer in return.

Social capital is different from networking. It’s about building and maintaining meaningful connections with mentors, sponsors, colleagues, and professional peers who can open doors, provide guidance, and identify opportunities that might not be accessible otherwise. Social capital becomes increasingly important as you advance in your career because most leadership roles aren’t advertised – they are filled through referrals and professional relationships.

“It took me a long time to be able to stand up for myself and say, ‘I do good work. I should be compensated accordingly.’”

Executives who rely heavily on applying for posted jobs, therefore, are at a disadvantage.

Many women hesitate to leverage their networks, fearing they’ll seem pushy or transactional. What they don’t realize is that it’s a practice that lifts all boats. And it’s an ideal way to overcome gender barriers. Best of all, when you’re proficient at it, it’s painless – even enjoyable.

The idea is always to be investing in your relationships. How? By exchanging insights, offering support, and helping others grow. When the day comes that you need help, your network will be happy to reciprocate. Successful professionals thrive on relationships like this – and gender barriers are much diminished in the process.

No Magic Formula

There is no one-size-fits-all magic formula to navigating barriers in the workplace, of course. Sometimes, it’s useful to consider professional help to gain better perspective, new tools, and individualized support. It’s always helpful to look at examples of women who have succeeded in their careers, though.

Marina Brown, founder and CEO of Moneiva, is a great role model for anyone. Marina demonstrated extraordinary success navigating challenges in her career – in an industry dominated by men, no less. Even more impressive, Marina is an immigrant.

Marina climbed the ranks in the transportation and logistics industry – or freight tech – where, she noted, women must work harder to get recognized and promoted. It was never easy.

“It took me a long time to be able to stand up for myself and say, ‘I do good work. I should be compensated accordingly,’ or, ‘If I’m doing the work of people who are one or two positions over me, then I should be promoted,’” said Marina in an interview.

Yes, structural and cultural barriers persist—but so do the strategies to overcome them.

Feeling undervalued in her role, Marina sought the help of The Barrett Group to explore new opportunities. She called the experience “pivotal.”

She learned techniques to leverage her social capital, becoming a “network maniac” in her words. First, Marina transitioned to a new company that was more rewarding on multiple levels. Within a few short years, leaning on her background in electronic payments and the transportation industry, she launched her own company that streamlines back office operations in the supply chain. Best of all, Marina now sets the culture, rules, and work opportunities for herself and those who work with her.