Report: Women Get Fewer of the “Hot Jobs” Needed to Advance

Catalyst, a leading nonprofit membership organization expanding opportunities for women and business, released its November 2012 report, Good Intentions, Imperfect Execution? Women Get Fewer of the “Hot Jobs” Needed to Advance,  where it examines the impact of leadership development—both formal programs and on-the-job experiences—on high potentials’ career advancement. It specifically investigates whether women and men get equal access to the experiences critical for advancement. The findings revealed that:

  • Large and visible projects, mission-critical roles, and international experiences are the crucial “hot jobs” that advance high potentials further and faster, but women get fewer of these critical experiences necessary to advance.
  • Formal leadership development programs can provide access to the “hot jobs” when managed strategically, but formal programs don’t always result in advancement, particularly for women.

“The report includes a series of questions for the reader to reflect upon about why disparities in career advancement persist. The goal is to help identify opportunities for effecting change in your organization, as well as in your career.”