03/26/2026
We attended an event hosted by Triangle Women in STEM Women’s History Month Event | Honoring Women’s Work: Power, Pay, & Parity and had the honor to hear from some of the sharpest minds in the Research Triangle.
The room was full of energy. The data was sobering which made me look deeper into the data and write this article.
Here's what the McKinsey & LeanIn Women in the Workplace 2025 report, 124 companies, 3 million employees, actually says:
→ For the 11th consecutive year, women are underrepresented at every single level of the corporate pipeline.
→ For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 60 Black women make that same step. 82 Latinas. 82 Asian women. 93 white women. The broken rung isn't a metaphor. It's a measurement.
→ For the first time ever, women are less likely to want a promotion than men. But when women receive the same sponsorship and career support as men, that gap disappears entirely. Women don't have an ambition problem. They have a sponsorship deficit.
→ Entry-level women are half as likely as men to have a senior-level sponsor — the kind who opens doors. Employees with sponsors are promoted at nearly twice the rate of those without.
→ 60% of senior-level women are experiencing frequent burnout. The highest ever recorded in 11 years of data.
→ Only 54% of companies say women's career advancement is a high priority in 2025. In 2021, 90% said DEI was a top priority. That freefall has a cost and women are paying it.
This isn't a fairness conversation. It's a talent strategy conversation. It's a productivity conversation. It's a competitive advantage conversation.
Here is a full article breaking down the data, what's driving the regression, and what companies and individual women can do right now.
And a massive thank you to the incredible panelists who showed up and spoke truth at our Triangle Women in STEM event, your perspective, your candor, and your commitment to this work made the night: Terri Mitchell, Torri A. Staton, Ph.D., Tianna Leger, MAOL, Kirsten Mitchell, Vinessa Fisher Hankins, and Cathy Davis
You gave this data a human voice. That matters more than any statistic.
To everyone who attended, the conversation doesn't end when the event does. What's one thing you're taking back to your team or your organization this week?
Drop it below. ↓
Yesterday, as I attended the Triangle Women in STEM Women's History Month event here in the Research Triangle. Scientists, engineers, founders, and executives filled the room, exactly the kind of talent organizations wage bidding wars to attract.
