Latest / Women at Work: Career, Leadership & Modern Work / The Referral Gap Why Women Get Fewer Internal Sponsors
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, I was looking at some promotion data the other day, and one number jumped out at me: women are about 30 to 50 percent less likely to get an internal referral for a promotion than men with identical qualifications. Luna: Wait, that's a huge gap. And I bet most people don't even realize it's happening. Lucas: Exactly. It's one of those invisible advantages that compounds over time. A McKinsey study from late last year tracked eight hundred managers across a range of industries, and they found that when a manager is asked to nominate someone for a high-visibility project, they don't think of everyone on their team equally. Luna: They think of who's top of mind, and that tends to be people they've spent informal time with — the person they grab coffee with, the person they chat with about sports. Lucas: Right. And those informal interactions happen more often with men, especially in male-dominated fields. It's not malicious. It's just that managers' networks tend to look like them. Luna: So the fix isn't just 'network more,' because women are already networking. The issue is who's doing the referring. Lucas: That's the critical insight. I spoke with a senior HR executive at a Fortune 500 tech company, and they ran a pilot program where they required managers to submit at least three diverse candidates for any promotion or project lead role. Luna: Three? That's a specific number. Did it actually change outcomes? Lucas: It did. In the first year, the number of women nominated for senior roles went up by 40 percent. And most of those women had been on the team for years — they just hadn't been on anyone's radar for that next step. Luna: So it wasn't about a pipeline problem. It was a visibility problem. Lucas: Exactly. The pipeline was full. The referral system was the bottleneck. Luna: I've heard a similar story from a listener — she was at a consulting firm, and for years she watched male peers get pulled into partner-track projects. Her manager only put her name forward when the firm introduced a diversity slate policy. Lucas: What happened to her? Luna: She made VP within eighteen months. She told me, 'I didn't get any smarter. Someone just finally looked at my work.' Lucas: That's incredibly telling. And it shows why passive sponsorship — where people are recommended without even asking — is so powerful. Men are more likely to receive that kind of sponsorship early in their careers. Luna: So what's the practical takeaway for someone who suspects they're being overlooked? How do you even know if there's a referral gap at your company? Lucas: One telltale sign: if you look at the people being assigned to high-profile projects or fast-track programs, and they consistently come from the same social circles — same college alumni groups, same sports leagues, same after-work hangouts — that's a red flag. Luna: And if you're a woman in that situation, do you try to break into those circles, or do you push for structural changes? Lucas: Both, honestly. But the structural changes are more sustainable. You can ask your manager directly: 'When you think about who to nominate for this project, could you share the criteria? I'd like to understand how I could be considered.' Luna: That's a great script. It's not confrontational, but it puts the question on the table. Lucas: And you can also ask for sponsorship explicitly. Say, 'I'm looking for someone who can advocate for me in rooms I'm not in. Would you be willing to be that person?' Luna: That takes a lot of courage. But it's a direct ask, and it signals ambition. Lucas: And if the answer is no, that tells you something about the culture. It might be time to look for a company with a more structured sponsorship program. Luna: Which brings us back to the Fortune 500 example. That company didn't wait for individuals to fix the system — they changed the process. Lucas: Right. And the interesting thing is, the managers in that pilot said it actually made their jobs easier. They discovered talent they had been overlooking. Luna: So the referral gap isn't just bad for women. It's bad for companies, too. Lucas: Absolutely. You're leaving value on the table. And it's such a simple fix — just change how nominations work. Luna: I think that's a good note to end on. Check your own company's nomination process. If it's opaque, ask questions. And if you're a manager, start looking at who you're not seeing. Lucas: Great advice. And we'll put some links in the show notes to the McKinsey study and a few organizations that have published guides on structured sponsorship. Luna: Perfect. For now, that's all from us. Keep the conversation going.