I can remember the days when sex discrimination in the workplace was rife. And worse, was considered acceptable.
Working in pharmaceuticals, I witnessed firsthand how capable women were passed over for promotions, excluded from key meetings, and told their career ambitions weren’t “realistic” once they had families. The barriers weren’t always obvious, but they were absolutely real.
These days we’re told women can do anything. It’s true that movements like #girlpower and #thisgirlcan have done a lot to empower women. But that sense of inequality is still lurking in the world of work. Recent campaigns such as #MeToo point out the often subtle barriers that women face when trying to build their careers.
Despite decades of progress and countless diversity initiatives, female representation in corporate top jobs hasn’t improved much. Women today make up just 29% of C-suite positions.1 The numbers tell a frustrating story. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women receive promotions.
In Big Pharma, women hold a depressingly low percentage of executive leadership positions. Of the current top 10 pharmaceutical companies, only one has a female CEO. Life sciences doesn’t fare much better. Whilst 52% of entry-level positions at pharmaceutical and medical products companies go to women, only 22% of C-suite roles are filled by women.
So why are women still missing out on top jobs? Let’s be clear: it’s not lack of ambition stopping women from succeeding in business. It’s obstacles. Understanding these barriers is the first step toward overcoming them.
The Obstacles Still Facing Women Today
1. Social Conditioning
The first obstacle stems from centuries of social conditioning. From birth, women are taught not to be demanding. They’re the carers, the nurturers, selfless and giving.
The demands of housework, childcare, and daily responsibilities still fall disproportionately on women. The lack of flexibility and extended hours often required for higher-paid jobs mean many women don’t feel able to compete for top positions.
Highly educated women often choose lower-paid work offering more flexibility to fit other aspects of their lives. Research suggests mental positioning accounts for up to 10% of the gender pay gap. Women tend to be more risk-averse than men and less willing to negotiate salary or compete for higher-paying positions.
An internal report at Hewlett-Packard revealed something striking: women only apply for jobs if they think they meet 100% of the criteria listed, whilst men typically apply when meeting just 60% of requirements.2
2. Communication Style and “Pushiness”
Linked to social conditioning is pushiness, or rather, a lack of it. Men are often better at getting their voices heard, pushing boundaries, and achieving their goals.
Here’s the double bind: assertive behaviour praised in men may be viewed negatively when exhibited by women. Those who advocate strongly for themselves risk being labelled difficult, whilst those who don’t may be overlooked entirely.
Traditional masculine communication styles dominate corporate environments, creating challenges for women who may communicate differently. Women must navigate between being perceived as too aggressive or too passive.
Female employees who believe they’re not receiving equal pay for doing the same work shouldn’t be afraid to raise this with employers. Companies must ensure all employees are treated fairly and have the same opportunities to progress.
3. Corporate Culture and the “Boys’ Club”
Many women feel undervalued in the workplace. With the gender pay gap still prevalent, women additionally face harassment and are often excluded from the “boys’ club” mentality that pervades many companies.
This stops many women achieving their potential. They don’t feel comfortable negotiating deals, whether for flexitime, salary increases, or job perks.
These cultural barriers manifest in various ways: after-work networking events that conflict with family responsibilities, communication styles favouring male colleagues, and informal networks that exclude women from crucial business relationships.
Women of colour face even greater challenges, experiencing higher rates of microaggressions including being more likely to be confused with someone else of the same race or ethnicity, or having others express surprise at their language skills or abilities.
Until senior leaders embrace improved corporate culture, women striving to reach the C-suite need to face adversity head-on. Here’s the reality: women tend to believe that doing good work and producing results will automatically earn promotions. It just isn’t like that. You have to chase it.
4. Guilt: The Biggest Barrier
This one’s the biggie.
Women are still made to feel guilty about having careers. We’ve all heard the guilt-tripping comments: “But what about a family?” or “Do you think it’s fair on the children not being at home?” Those “motherhood penalties” make many women feel discounted for having children or requesting maternity benefits.
With gender bias so prevalent, the misconception persists that women choosing to have children effectively destroy their career opportunities.
These days, it’s not always about choice. Many women work to make ends meet. They may be single parents juggling career and family, or they may need two incomes to stretch far enough. Society places disproportionate pressure on women regarding family responsibilities, creating internal conflicts about career ambition.
So if women work, why shouldn’t they have ambition to reach the top of the career ladder?
5. Workplace Discrimination
Both overt and subtle discrimination continue to limit women’s professional progress. Female employees from male-dominated industries work with bias that effectively sabotages the ambitions of high-achieving women, causing them to question whether their career goals are worth the effort.
There are plenty of ambitious and well-qualified women out there. However, if companies don’t acknowledge discrimination, those women’s efforts to advance will be in vain, and they’ll lose their confidence and self-belief.
Unconscious bias affects hiring, promotion, and project assignment decisions. Women may be passed over for challenging assignments that would showcase their capabilities, or their contributions may be undervalued compared to male colleagues.
Despite these challenges, women remain as ambitious as men, though their optimism about career growth hasn’t improved over the past decade. The cumulative effect of discriminatory practices creates environments where highly qualified women question whether their career goals are achievable.
6. The Glass Ceiling
The glass ceiling represents an invisible barrier that keeps women from rising beyond a certain level. It’s a barrier many women face, and it not only stifles motivation and career aspirations but has broader negative impact: leaving talent on the table and not utilising skills inevitably results in the overall economy suffering.
This systematic exclusion operates through various mechanisms, from informal networks that exclude women to promotion criteria that inadvertently favour male career patterns.
Technology and changing workplace structures offer hope for dismantling these barriers. Remote work options, flexible scheduling, and results-focused performance metrics can help level the playing field by reducing the impact of traditional workplace biases.
However, achieving meaningful change requires deliberate action from organisations to identify and eliminate the structural barriers maintaining gender inequality.
Strategies for Moving Forward
Addressing these barriers requires both individual strategies and organisational change. Women can develop negotiation skills, seek mentorship opportunities, and build professional networks. Companies must commit to creating inclusive cultures that support all employees’ advancement.
Successful organisations implement bias-free promotion processes, provide flexible work arrangements, and establish clear pathways for career progression. They also measure and monitor gender equality metrics to ensure sustainable progress.
If you’re a female leader, you’re likely a great leader because the effort involved to reach where you are was incredible. Use this resilience to achieve your aspirations and climb that career ladder to the top.
The Business Case for Change
Creating equitable workplaces benefits everyone. Companies with diverse leadership teams demonstrate better financial performance, improved decision-making, and enhanced innovation. By addressing barriers to women’s advancement, organisations can unlock the full potential of their workforce whilst building more resilient and successful businesses.
The path to gender equality requires sustained effort and commitment from individuals, organisations, and society as a whole. Only through acknowledging and actively addressing these barriers can we create workplaces where talent and merit determine career success, regardless of gender.
Frequently Asked Questions About Barriers to Women in Business
Creating Change Together
The landscape of women’s career advancement continues to evolve, driven by changing social attitudes, technological innovations, and progressive corporate policies. Whilst significant barriers remain, growing awareness and commitment to change offer hope for a more equitable professional future.
These barriers aren’t insurmountable. By working together to identify, understand, and systematically address them, we can create workplaces where all individuals have equal opportunities to reach their full potential.
The benefits extend far beyond individual success to encompass organisational excellence and societal progress. At the current pace, achieving gender parity in corporate leadership remains decades away. We can’t afford to wait that long.
Whether you’re a woman facing these barriers or a leader committed to change, the time for action is now.