Why Companies Aren't Developing Women Leaders

The vast majority of women professionals believe their career potential is limited by an overwhelming gender imbalance within senior leadership roles at their company, according to a recent survey from Skillsoft. The accompanying report, "The Impact of Women in the Workforce," reveals that men dominate the C-suite and other high-profile management positions, and very few women employees think that their organization is doing a good job at addressing this situation. There's a glaring lack of leadership development programs made available to women, for example, and mentorship and sponsorship programs are scarce. The most common form of training, in fact, is made available through social networks, industry groups, online communities and other informal resources that are not sponsored by the employer. "From entry-level to C-level positions, women workers are facing more barriers and advancing more slowly than their male counterparts," according to the report. "Respondents note that even when training is available, the opportunity to advance and to apply skills may not be [available]. Women are underrepresented in leadership roles, which creates potential loss to the bottom line for many organizations. Investing in training to develop and support women leaders will lead to better business results." About 485 women professionals around the world took part in the research.