Latest / Women at Work: Career, Leadership & Modern Work / How the Mentorship Gap Costs Women Promotions
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to start with a number that's been stuck in my head: a 2026 McKinsey report found that women are 24 percent less likely than men to receive informal mentorship that leads to promotions. Luna: Twenty-four percent — that's huge. And I think we all know formal mentorship programs exist at most big companies now, so where's the breakdown? Lucas: Right, that's exactly the puzzle. The formal programs are there, but the informal pipeline — the hallway conversation, the 'I'll put your name in for that role' moment — that's where women are getting left behind. Luna: And if we're being honest, that informal pipeline is usually what actually gets you promoted. The formal program is a checkbox. Lucas: Exactly. So I want to ground this in a specific case. A friend of mine — let's call her Sarah — was a mid-level marketing manager at a Fortune 500 consumer goods company. Luna: Okay, I'm listening. Lucas: She had a formal mentor assigned through the company's women's leadership program. They met quarterly. Her mentor gave her good advice about building her resume and managing up. Luna: Sounds helpful, but not game-changing. Lucas: Not game-changing at all. Meanwhile, a male colleague in the same cohort got pulled into a high-visibility project because his mentor — who was a senior VP — casually mentioned him in a leadership meeting. Luna: That's the difference. That's sponsorship, not mentorship. Lucas: Exactly. Sylvia Ann Hewlett's work on sponsorship makes this distinction clear: a mentor gives advice, a sponsor uses their political capital to advocate for you when you're not in the room. Luna: And that kind of advocacy is almost always informal. It happens over coffee, in the hallway after a meeting, in the Slack DM. Lucas: And if we're honest, that kind of advocacy is harder for women to access because of network dynamics. Senior leaders — still predominantly male — tend to sponsor people who remind them of themselves. Luna: Yeah, the 'mini-me' effect. It's well documented. So what can a woman actually do about it? Lucas: I think the first step is recognizing the difference. Don't just ask someone to be your mentor. Ask them directly: 'Would you be willing to advocate for me when opportunities come up?' Luna: That takes guts. But I've seen it work. I once had a senior leader who I'd only met twice, and I asked her if she'd put my name forward for a task force. She said yes, and I got the role. Lucas: And that's exactly the kind of move that narrows the gap. The other side of the coin is organizational change. Companies need to measure not just how many people are in mentorship programs, but how many women are getting sponsored into stretch assignments. Luna: Some are starting to tie bonus metrics to sponsorship. A few firms in the McKinsey report had success with that. Lucas: Right, and that's promising. But until that becomes standard, the onus is partly on individual women to seek sponsors, not just mentors. Luna: And on men in leadership to be more intentional about sponsoring women. It's not about being a savior — it's about recognizing talent that doesn't look like you. Lucas: That's well said. And if today's conversation gave you a useful way to think about your own career moves, I'll mention that the reason we can have these conversations without ads is listener support. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that makes a big difference. If you find value in episodes like this, you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: And that support lets us keep digging into these specific, actionable topics. So back to Sarah — she eventually got promoted, but only after she found a sponsor outside her formal program. Luna: What changed for her? Lucas: She started treating every senior interaction as a potential sponsorship moment. She prepared one-pagers about her projects, asked for specific feedback, and followed up with a clear ask: 'If there's an opening on the innovation team, I'd love for you to recommend me.' Luna: It's almost like she shifted from being a passive mentee to an active career manager. Lucas: Exactly. And the research backs that up. Women who actively seek sponsors — not just mentors — see promotion rates close to those of men. Luna: So the gap isn't about capability. It's about access to advocacy. Lucas: That's the core takeaway. And I think companies that want to close the gap need to make sponsorship visible and measurable. Luna: Let's talk about one more concrete thing — the 'sponsor pledge.' Some firms ask senior leaders to commit to sponsoring at least one woman or person of color each year. Lucas: I've seen that work. It creates accountability. And when it's tied to performance reviews, it stops being a nice to have. Luna: But for the listener who's not in a company with that culture, what's the one thing you'd advise? Lucas: Identify the person in your organization who has a track record of advocating for others — not just mentoring — and find a way to add value to their work. Then make the ask. Luna: And if they say no? Lucas: Then move on. Not everyone will be your sponsor. But you only need one or two who will.