As the global pandemic has altered the workplace as we know it, we're seeing disproportionate negative effects on women. This is true especially of mothers and women of color. For underrepresented groups, challenges to career progression can feel daunting, particularly when not starting from a place of equity compared with their colleagues.

According to a McKinsey & Company Report, Women in the Workplace 2020, the pandemic has intensified challenges that women had already faced pre-pandemic. Where even two years ago, the movement toward gender parity in corporate America, although slow, was heading in the right direction, we're now seeing that:

  • One in four women is contemplating downshiftingtheir careers or leaving the workforce altogether
  • Women, particularly those of color, are more likely to have been laid off or furloughed during the COVID-19 crisis, stalling their careers and jeopardizing their financial security
  • Women are 1.5 times more likely to spend an extra 3+ hours a day on housework and childcare (equivalent to 20 hours a week)
    • "Working mothers have always worked a 'double shift' - a full day of work, followed by hours spent caring for children and doing household labor. Now the supports that made this possible - including school and childcare - have been upended."-Women in the Workplace 2020
  • Black women face even greater challenges compared with their peers from other ethnicities and races, with reduced opportunities for promotion and career advancement, and notable degrees of underrepresentation at higher levels

Bottom line? Women's professional progress has taken a blow, exacerbated by the pandemic, and the financial, mental and emotional toll is high.

Attachments

  • Original document
  • Permalink

Disclaimer

NetApp Inc. published this content on 27 September 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 29 September 2021 11:31:03 UTC.