In her 2013 book, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg famously exhorted women to “lean in” to their careers.
But it seems many Canadian women are planning to do the opposite.
Nearly half of women surveyed by Ipsos Reid for recruiting firm Randstad Canada said they were not interested in being promoted to a more senior position. That number rises for women 55 and older; 76% of that age group said they had no interest in climbing the corporate ladder.
Those results, especially for the over-55 age group, surprised Faith Tull, senior vice-president of human resources with Randstad.
“The number of women wanting to advance was a lot smaller than I thought; it was only about 30%,” Tull said.
“We had some panel discussions across the country, and some women said I’m just approaching my 50s, my kids are in university and I’m ready to dig into my career. So it was surprising that more women in their 50s didn’t want to advance.”
Source: Women Shaping Business survey, 2014, Randstad Canada
So what’s holding women back from seeking to advance? Fears around absences due to family obligations (53%) and maternity leave (51)% topped the list of factors preventing survey respondents from taking on more responsibility at work.
“Organizations fear what the absence will cause and that fear permeates to women,” Tull said. “While they’re happy in their family, they cringe when they have to have that conversation with their boss.”
Mentorship programs and a more flexible workplace culture are two areas that could be improved to help women succeed, Tull said.
@jenstden
