Inadequate paid leave in the United States particularly hurts women, especially lack of paid leave after the birth of a child. Women in the service-sector may also work variable shifts, and require child care at hours during which day care centers don’t typically operate. New research shows a growing divide in progress in the workforce between women who have earned at least a bachelor’s degree and those without any higher education. Only a third of employees say they regularly disconnect from work communication when not working, and even fewer set clear boundaries around their availability. This points to the need for companies to make it clear that taking time away from work is encouraged.
Only about 25 percent of employees say their company prioritizes disability in its DEI efforts, compared to more than 40 percent who say their company prioritizes gender and sexual orientation and almost 60 percent who say their company prioritizes race. Disabilities can take many different forms—including paralysis, pain, chronic illness, impaired hearing or vision, learning disabilities, and mental health diagnoses—but all disabilities can make women’s experiences more difficult at work. Women are even more burned out than they were a year ago, and the gap in burnout between women and men has almost doubled. In the past year, 1 in 3 women has considered leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers—a significant increase from 1 in 4 in the first few months of the pandemic. International Women’s Day 2025 is more than just a celebration – it’s a call to action. Observed every year on March 8, IWD highlights women’s achievements and promotes gender equality.
As companies embrace flexibility, they also need to set clear boundaries
Companies can help with this by developing a code of conduct that articulates what supportive and respectful behavior looks like—as well as what’s unacceptable and uncivil behavior. A majority of women and men work more flexibly than they did before the pandemic, and relatively few feel judged or worry it will negatively impact their careers. Most notably, women are far more likely to feel set up to succeed when they work this way than they did two years ago. One of the women said she was told that her golf skirt made her boss “uncomfortable.” Another woman said she and a colleague were advised not to wear leggings.
Men are more optimistic about progress for women—at work and at home
Also, women who work flexibly are just as ambitious as women who don’t work flexibly. One in 5 women say flexibility has helped them stay at their organization or avoid reducing their hours. A large number of women who work hybrid or remotely point to feeling less fatigued and burned out as a primary benefit. And a majority of women report having more focused time to get their work done when they work remotely.
Women of color face more challenges and get less support
- Massick said spironolactone has anti-androgen effects, making it useful for female pattern hair loss, especially in women with PCOS who may have excess male hormones.
- This means women are shouldering roughly double the load of mentorship and sponsorship.
- Policies should work to eliminate obstacles and increase opportunities even when there is not a single, universally applicable solution.
- Companies with strong women’s representation across the pipeline are more likely to have certain practices in place.
- And all of these dynamics are even more pronounced for women of color.The reasons women leaders are stepping away from their companies are telling.
To achieve this goal, P&G has implemented several initiatives, including a Women’s Leadership Council and a sponsorship program that pairs female employees with senior leaders for mentorship and development. In addition to these benefits, women’s empowerment in the workplace is essential for gender equality. It is essential to ensure that women have equal opportunities, and equal pay, and are not discriminated against based on their gender. It is crucial to create an environment where they can thrive and reach their full potential. At every stage of the pipeline, women are as committed to their careers and as interested in being promoted as men.
Your gender equality checklist: Flex work, equal pay, fair tech
Companies have demonstrated a strong commitment to employee well-being over the past year. They have taken a wide range of steps to help employees weather the pandemic, including increasing mental health benefits, adding support for parents and caregivers, and offering more paid leave. These steps have led to better outcomes for all employees, and they have likely played a key role in helping women to stay in their jobs. To accelerate progress for all women, on all fronts, companies need to double down on accountability. Moreover, among companies that hold senior leaders accountable, less than half factor progress on diversity metrics into performance reviews and far fewer provide financial incentives for meeting goals.
More than 27,000 employees from 33 organizations elected to participate in the Employee Experience Survey. Companies with strong women’s representation across the pipeline are more likely to have certain practices in place. The following data are based on an analysis of top performers—companies that have a higher representation of women and women of color than their industry peers.
One of those cases, which involves two former Tigers scouts, has been stayed pending a resolution in a separate but relevant case against MLB. The two other cases — one involving a former Tigers visiting clubhouse manager and the other involving a former Tigers executive — were dismissed in May 2024 and August 2025, respectively, as the parties settled. Ben Fidelman, IS+E’s vice president of communications and broadcasting, started his sports career with internships for MLB.com and the commissioner’s office.
The experiences of Asian women at work
- Since men significantly outnumber women, there are fewer women to promote to director, and the number of women decreases at every subsequent level.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a massive opportunity for humanity, reshaping how we work, learn, and live at gargantuan speed.
- These benefits are especially important for women, who continue to bear the majority of family caregiving duties.
- This is because women tend to have a more collaborative and inclusive leadership style.
- Women who work hybrid or remotely are no more likely than women who work on-site to consider reducing their hours or switching to a less demanding job.
They are heavily impacted by bias in hiring and promotions; Black women are promoted at a lower rate than white women at the first step up to manager, and more than a quarter of Black women say their race has led to them missing out on an opportunity to advance. They experience more microaggressions than other groups of women, and are three to four times as likely as white women to be subjected to disrespectful and “othering” comments and behavior. They are also less likely to report that their managers check in on their well-being or help them balance priorities and deadlines. At nearly every step in the pipeline, the representation of women of color falls relative to white women and men of the same race and ethnicity.
Implement anti-bias training, establish mentorship programs and provide safe, anonymous ways for employees to report harassment. In many organizations, limited paid parental leave forces women to choose between work and family, setting back their professional growth. One in three women report experiencing harassment at work, and 42% say they’ve faced gender discrimination in hiring and promotions. Over time, these interactions erode confidence, women in the workplace decrease engagement, and contribute to a hostile work environment. Those who regularly experience microaggressions are more likely to leave their jobs due to experiencing consistent stress and feeling undervalued.
After contacting the Tigers for comment last week, The Athletic heard, unsolicited, from two women and a man who currently work in the organization. Those individuals said they wanted to speak off the record about their positive experiences with Fidelman. Asked to give on-the-record comments in support of Fidelman, they declined to do so. The most serious allegation involved Michael Lienert, who joined the company in 2019 and was promoted to IS+E’s vice president of premium sales and private events in September 2021. While in that role, Lienert would stare at women in a manner that made some of them uncomfortable, according to three women who said they felt that way and two men who were told that by women in the organization.
Mothers with young children are especially likely to rank flexible scheduling as a top employee benefit.36 And without flexibility, 38% say that they would have had to otherwise leave their company or reduce their work hours. In 2024, in response to survey feedback, IS+E formed small employee groups, including a women’s group called ACES (Advocate Connect Empower in Sports). At that group’s first meeting, several women expressed the need for paid maternity leave and women’s feminine products in bathrooms. Three employees made HR aware of other interactions they witnessed in which Fidelman allegedly made inappropriate comments or verbally harassed staff, according to four organizational sources. In April, HR received a formal complaint from a female employee alleging retaliation and gender discrimination by Fidelman, according to an IS+E source and HR documents reviewed by The Athletic.
Finally, companies need to impress upon managers that the work they do to support employee well-being is critical to the health and success of the business. For this work to feel like a real priority, it needs to be tied to concrete outcomes for managers, including performance ratings and compensation. To underscore that employees are not expected to be “always on,” companies and managers need to work together to make sure all employees are evaluated based on results rather than when or where they work. A results-oriented lens is critical in formal performance reviews, and managers should be mindful of the day-to-day feedback they deliver to ensure they aren’t inadvertently signaling that long hours and face time are unspoken measures of performance.
Gender Wage Gap
In another instance, he commented on a woman’s buttocks, according to one person who heard the comment and another who was told about it. Before being hired in January 2023, Bullock worked at the XFL with IS+E president and CEO Ryan Gustafson. Three people told The Athletic they witnessed Bullock verbally harass male and female employees, sometimes on the field. Four people, both male and female employees, said they heard Bullock use vulgarities to describe women and, in some of those cases, discuss sexual acts.
While not officially employees of IS+E, team broadcasters fly with the team, stay at the same hotels and work closely with team personnel. The HR investigation into the female employee’s allegations from April lasted about a week. Two other high-ranking IS+E officials accused of making inappropriate comments to and about female employees remain with the organization.
