In the current sociopolitical climate, the conversation around diversity is becoming ever more politicized. There is a constant shift between supporting DE&I initiatives and limiting it—sometimes legally.
While many countries worldwide continue to pass laws committed to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion, affirmative action at the federal level in the United States was reversed, and various state laws outright prohibit diversity and inclusion initiatives based on race or gender.
Alongside the legal pushback, an unpredictable economy has companies tightening their budgets—and DE&I initiatives are often the first to go. But what’s the outcome of the pushback against DE&I in the real world? How is it affecting people in the workforce?
Professional women’s progress, by the numbers
In honor of International Women’s Day, we’ve taken a deep look at gender equity and equality with our third annual survey on women in the global workforce.
We asked 7000 people across the US, UK, Germany, and Australia about their perceptions of women in the workplace and found that while we’ve come a long way, the road to true equity and equality is still a long one.
Overall, gender equity and equality in the workplace are improving.
Women are feeling more confident in their performance at work
Women in all four regions are feeling more confident in their performance at work than they did last year.
In the UK, 93 percent of women said they were very confident or mostly confident in their performance at work compared to 92 percent last year. In the US, women’s confidence rose by 10 percentage points between this year and last, from 86 percent reporting they felt confident in their performance last year to 96 percent saying they were either very confident or mostly confident this year.
Women’s confidence in their performance at work went up even more in Australia and Germany. In Germany, 81 percent of women said they felt very confident or mostly confident compared to just 56 percent last year. And in Australia, women’s confidence went up a whopping 33 percent from just 52 percent reporting they felt confident last year to 85 percent reporting they feel either very confident or mostly confident this year.
Most women feel they’re promoted equally compared to men
When we asked women if they feel they’re promoted equally compared to men within their company, the answers varied by region.
In the UK, only 55 percent of women said they feel women are promoted equally compared to men versus 57 percent last year. However, 70 percent of men in the UK surveyed this year said they felt women and men are promoted equally.
In the US, 61 percent of women said they feel they’re promoted equally to men compared to only 54 percent last year. When we asked men in the US the same question in this year’s survey, 80 percent of them said they feel men and women are promoted equally.
The responses were similar in Australia and Germany. In Australia, 54 percent of women this year said they feel they’re promoted equally to men compared to just 41 percent last year. But 76 percent of men in Australia said they feel men and women are promoted equally.
In Germany, 53 percent of women respondents said they feel women are promoted equally to men compared to only 40 percent last year (but 70 percent of men in Germany said they feel men and women are promoted equally).
Most women feel that men and women are paid equally for the same roles
When we asked people if they feel that men and women are paid equally for the same roles across their companies, more than half of women in the UK (58 percent), US (56 percent), and Australia (54 percent) said yes. Each of these is an improvement over what women in these countries reported in last year’s survey. But in Germany, the numbers plummeted.
Only 3 percent of women in Germany said they feel that men and women are paid equally for the same roles. That’s down a disheartening 34 percentage points from last year when 37 percent of women said yes to this question.
It’s also interesting to note that when we asked men the same question, 48 percent of men said yes in Germany, 80 percent said yes in Australia, 82 percent said yes in the US, and 79 percent said yes in the UK, so the discrepancy in perception between the genders is still extreme.
Women are feeling more comfortable and more qualified at work
When it comes to gender equality, things may be moving slowly, but they are looking up for women. When we asked respondents if a colleague ever made them feel uncomfortable or less qualified in the workplace because of their gender, most women said no.
In the UK, the percentage of women who said they’ve never been made to feel uncomfortable or less qualified at work because of their gender stayed the same (77 percent) between this year and last year. But that still leaves massive room for improvement: 23 percent of women in 2023 and 2024 said they have been made to feel uncomfortable.
The good news is that the percentage of women who said they’ve never been made to feel uncomfortable or less qualified jumped in the US (from 68 percent in 2023 to 78 percent in 2024) and Australia (from 55 percent in 2023 to 72 percent in 2024).
In Germany, 27 percent of women in this year’s survey said they’ve never been made to feel less qualified in the workplace compared to 60 percent last year.
Give women the recognition they deserve
In the big picture, things are improving for women in the global world of work. Even so, achieving gender equality in the workplace might still feel like an uphill battle, but there are so many ways to make your workplace more equitable, fair, and inclusive. It all starts with proactive (and simple) everyday initiatives that can give your company culture the boost it needs.
1. Explore women’s representation in local business and government
Thanks to non-stop awareness campaigns, the fight for women’s equality in modern society has made great strides. Progress often starts at the local level. Join the campaign for gender equality and women’s rights by inviting speakers to talk about women’s representation (or underrepresentation) in local businesses and governments. You can also introduce your teams to local women entrepreneurs to learn how your businesses can collaborate in support of gender equality in your community.
2. Launch internship and mentorship programs for women and girls
As always, an investment in people is an investment in your business. Launch an internship program for young women and girls entering the workforce (or pivoting into your industry) to help them build experience and develop skills.
Women-to-women mentorship programs also help women hone leadership skills, build confidence in their professional abilities, and forge the foundation of the next generation of talented business leaders. Strategic programs like these are key to narrowing the skills gap and winning the war for talent—all while building a healthy culture dedicated to gender-diverse and inclusive teams.
3. Host women’s empowerment meetups
Host professional empowerment meetups and provide a platform for women team members, candidates, customers, and business partners to build supportive relationships that contribute to healthy career growth.
Meetups offer a safe space for women to develop themselves personally and professionally. But they’re also key to fostering inclusive and diverse company cultures that prioritize diversity and equality.
Get creative with how you host and offer a variety of different activities and networking opportunities, like:
- Leadership panels. This provides a platform to bring successful women leaders together to share their experiences, impart knowledge, and inspire (and guide) other women in their professional journeys.
- Workshops. Interactive sessions help participants improve their professional skills, from negotiation to people management and business leadership and decision-making.
4. Discuss women’s health and women-specific benefits at your company
One of the best ways to support women is with women-specific benefits like top-notch women’s health care packages, shared parental leave, flexible work structures, and women’s leadership mentoring opportunities. Review your benefit offerings and consider adding some competitive women-specific benefits or improving the ones you already have.
Consider creating a women’s ERG (if you don’t already have one) where women can come together to discuss women’s concerns in a safe space and provide invaluable feedback on your women-specific benefit packages.
Most importantly, let your teams know how to make the most of their benefits. Hold awareness sessions to inform people about what benefits are available to them and how to access them.
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5. Talk about pay parity at your organization
Companies around the world are making great progress in narrowing the gender pay gap, but progress is slow. A great way to improve and achieve pay equity is to be open to talking about pay with your people.
Achieving pay parity is a team effort and can take time. Pay transparency is a spectrum. Discuss where you stand with your people (and why) and listen to their feedback.
Empower women all year round
The world still has a lot of work to do to achieve genuine gender equity and equality in the workplace. But we’ve come so far.
This International Women’s Day is the perfect time to reboot and re-assess our strategic approach to accomplishing equality with tangible people programming that aligns with business priorities.
Let’s take this moment to evaluate where we are, where we need to go, and how we’ll get there. Set new goals and experiment with innovative ways to enhance the opportunities we offer women and people of all genders in the workplace. Always set our sights on the future of equity and equality high.
