Latest / Women at Work: Career, Leadership & Modern Work / How the Broken Rung Blocks Women From First Management
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this phrase that keeps coming up in career research — the broken rung. And I think it's one of the most overlooked reasons women stall early in their careers. Luna: Broken rung. I've heard it in a few places, but I'm not sure most people know what it actually means. Is it different from the glass ceiling? Lucas: Completely different. The glass ceiling is about the very top — VP, C-suite — where women hit an invisible barrier. The broken rung is about the very first step onto the management ladder. The step from individual contributor to first-level manager. Luna: And that's where women fall off? Lucas: That's exactly where they fall off. McKinsey's Women in the Workplace report has tracked this for nearly a decade. And the data is remarkably consistent: for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 87 women get that promotion. For women of color, it drops to 82. Luna: Eighty-two. That's a huge gap right at the start. And if fewer women become managers in the first place, then the pool for the next level is already smaller. Lucas: Exactly. It compounds. If you miss that first promotion, you're not just delayed — you often never catch up. Because the next roles — senior manager, director — they draw from that manager pool. So the broken rung is the single biggest pipeline leak in corporate America. Luna: I want to dig into why. Is it bias in who gets picked for the first supervisor role? Or is it that women self-select out because they see management as unattractive? Lucas: Both, but the research points more to the first one. A lot of it is about visibility and assignment. Men are more likely to be given stretch assignments — the high-profile projects that lead to promotion. Women are more likely to be given 'office housework' — the low-visibility tasks that don't get you noticed. Luna: So it's not a confidence issue. It's a structural issue about who gets the good work. Lucas: Right. There's also a sponsorship gap. Men are more likely to have a senior leader actively pushing for their promotion. Women more often have mentors — people who give advice — but not sponsors who actually advocate for them in the room where decisions are made. Luna: And that makes a huge difference. One study I saw from Lean In found that women who have sponsors are significantly more likely to ask for a promotion — and get it. Lucas: It's a self-reinforcing cycle. If you don't get the stretch assignment, you don't build the track record. Without the track record, no one sponsors you. Without sponsorship, you miss the promotion. And then you're stuck as an individual contributor while your male peers move up. Luna: So what can someone actually do if they're in that position? If they're a woman who wants to move into management but feels like they're not getting the opportunities? Lucas: The most concrete thing I've seen work is to be explicit about the ask. Not 'I'd like to be considered for management someday,' but 'I want to be a manager in the next 12 months. What specifically do I need to accomplish to get that promotion?' Luna: And if they say 'just keep doing good work,' that's a red flag. Lucas: Huge red flag. Because good work alone rarely gets you promoted. You need visible wins. So you also want to actively seek out projects that have high visibility — the ones that the senior leadership team actually sees. Luna: But what if those projects are already being handed to someone else? How do you break in? Lucas: You can ask your manager directly: 'I'd like to lead the next client presentation. Can I shadow you on this one and then take the lead on the next?' Or you can find a peer who's already on a high-profile project and offer to help with a piece of it. It's about inserting yourself into the work that counts. Luna: And sponsorship — how do you get a sponsor if you don't already have one? Lucas: Sponsorship usually comes from being seen as competent and reliable by someone two or three levels above you. One tactic is to identify a senior leader whose priorities align with your skills, then find a way to contribute to their initiative. Once you deliver value, you can have a direct conversation: 'I'm committed to growing here. I'd love your perspective on how I can position myself for a manager role.' Luna: It's almost like you have to create your own visibility. But that takes time and energy that women might not have if they're already doing the lion's share of the office housework. Lucas: That's the trap. And companies need to fix the system, not just tell women to work harder. But on an individual level, you have to be strategic about where you spend your energy. Say no to low-visibility tasks if they don't advance your goal. Protect your time for the work that gets noticed. Luna: I want to come back to that number — 87 women promoted for every 100 men. Does that hold across industries? Because I imagine tech might be worse, while something like healthcare might be better. Lucas: It varies, but not as much as you'd think. McKinsey found that in financial services and tech, the ratio is actually a bit worse — around 84 to 100. In healthcare and nonprofit, it's closer to 92. But in every industry, women fall behind at that first step. Luna: And for women of color, it's even steeper. The 82 number is for all women of color, but for Black women specifically, it's more like 70? Lucas: Roughly. The data is clear: the broken rung hits hardest for women with multiple marginalized identities. And that's why you see such low representation of Black women in senior leadership — it's not just about the glass ceiling, it's that they never got on the ladder in the first place. Luna: So if a company wants to fix this, where do they start? Lucas: First, they need to audit their promotion data at the first level. Look at how many men versus women are promoted into manager roles. If the ratio is less than 90 to 100, there's a structural issue. Then they need to examine the criteria for promotion. Are they valuing potential or proven track record? Because men are often promoted on potential, women on proven results. Luna: And the second thing? Lucas: Create formal sponsorship programs. Pair high-potential women with senior leaders who have a mandate to advocate for them in promotion discussions. And make stretch assignments more transparent — post them internally, don't just hand them out through informal networks. Luna: That would help with the visibility gap too. If everyone knows what projects are available, it's harder to just give them to your golf buddy. Lucas: Exactly. Transparency is the enemy of unconscious bias. And the broken rung is largely about unconscious bias — people promoting people who remind them of themselves. Luna: It's frustrating because this isn't a new problem. We've known about the broken rung for years. And yet the numbers have barely budged. Lucas: They've improved slightly — in 2015, the ratio was about 80 to 100. Now it's 87. So progress, but glacial. And part of it is that the broken rung is less visible than the glass ceiling. Everyone focuses on the C-suite, but the real leverage point is at the entry level. Luna: I think that's a really important takeaway. If you're early in your career and you want to be in leadership someday, the most critical promotion you'll ever get is the first one. And if you don't get it, it's not because you're not good enough — it's because the system is designed to overlook you. Lucas: We should probably mention that this conversation is possible because of listeners who support us through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small group, but it's what keeps this show ad-free and allows us to dig into topics like this without any sponsor pressure. So thank you to those who do. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. And it's not a huge commitment — it's literally the price of a coffee every month. But it adds up to keep us independent. Lucas: Alright, back to the broken rung. I think one thing we haven't talked about is what happens when women do become managers. They're often given smaller teams or less strategic remits — what some researchers call the 'glass cliff' but at the first level. Luna: Meaning they're set up to fail? Lucas: Or to succeed less visibly. A woman becomes a manager, but she's managing three people while her male peer manages ten. Her scope is narrower, so her impact is smaller. And then when it's time for the next promotion, she has less to point to. Luna: So even when women get through the broken rung, the rung above might be greased for someone else. Lucas: Exactly. That's why fixing the first rung alone isn't enough. You need to fix the whole pipeline. But if you fix nothing else, fix that first step. Because that's where the leak is biggest. Luna: I want to end with a thought for the woman listening who's currently an individual contributor and thinking about management. What's one thing she can do this week? Lucas: Look at the next high-visibility project in your department. If you're not on it, ask to be added. Not in a tentative way — say 'I'd like to contribute to this because it aligns with my goal of moving into management.' Be explicit about your ambition. That alone changes how people see you. Luna: And if they say no? Lucas: Ask why. And if the reason isn't about performance or capacity, then you know the system is working against you. And that's useful information for deciding whether to stay and fight or find a company that values your ambition. Luna: That's a powerful lens. Thanks for breaking this down, Lucas. Lucas: Always a good conversation. Next time we'll talk about something I've been noticing — the 'responsibility gap' in remote teams. How women end up carrying more invisible coordination work. Luna, you have some thoughts on that? Luna: I do. Let's save it for next episode.