The parent career progression gap
Half of mums think that having children has “definitely” negatively impacted their career progression chances compared with 30% of dads, a Leaders Plus survey has found.
Go on…
The survey of almost 1,000 parents found that when people take time out to care for their children, their career progression tends to stall. More than half (60%) of parents said they had decided against applying for a promotion due to caring responsibilities, including 67% of mums.
The study was carried out by Leaders Plus, the social enterprise which supports working parents to progress in their careers. To try and counteract the parent career progression gap, Leaders Plus runs a Fellowship programme to support those with big careers and children.
What else did the survey find?
Although flexible working is “normalised as a term”, it’s often not seen in practice, the report said. Leaders Plus pointed out that just 0.3% of workers are in job shares, for example, and that part-time workers are often at a disadvantage when it comes to promotions and progression.
I’m guessing gender has a role to play?
Of course. While the survey found that nearly half of parents (48%) were promoted after returning to work, dads were nearly twice as likely as mums to be promoted more than once since. The imbalance was even more pronounced for women from minoritised backgrounds.
Anything else I should take from all this?
It’s not all doom and gloom. Half of parents said that having children has had a positive impact on their productivity, while just 15% cited a negative impact. “Work became purposeful. I became a provider not just a worker,” said one respondent.
So what can we do to narrow the gap?
Employers can do things to prioritise flexible working at all levels, for example, by advertising jobs as flexible by default or by role modelling flexible working from the top.
At an individual level, Leaders Plus recommends that new parents seek out support from their managers and colleagues. Various resources are also available to help narrow the parent career progression gap, for example, the Leaders Plus Fellowship Programme which supports ambitious parents to thrive in leadership roles while juggling children.
If the above has resonated with you, you can find out more about the Fellowship and access some handy resources here.
Applications for the Fellowship close on 20 March 2024.