Even after 20 years in Silicon Valley, Janice Fraser was baffled by the hundreds of articles and studies that each try to explain why women don't advance into senior leadership at the same rate as men. Drawing upon dozens of these publications, Janice has mapped out the system, in simple boxes and arrows, showing clearly where the leaks are in the leadership pipeline for women, and how we can plug them. Her findings provide a powerful roadmap for men and women who want to do better for themselves and their colleagues. By courageously looking at how people really advance and what holds them back, we can each develop explicit strategies for managing our own careers and understanding how best to support others.

1. Understand the system, make a strategy
Women in Leadership
January 2016
Janice Fraser
Director, People
Pivotal

2. Keep in touch!
@clevergirl

3. I’ve been in business for a long time.

4. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
We’ve come a long way since the day
my business partners tried to deny my
maternity leave retroactively because in
their view parenthood was a “lifestyle
choice”.

5. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Even so, women don’t advance into leadership
proportionately.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
IC Manager Director VP SVP C-Suite
Source: Women in the
Workplace 2016, McKinsey22
This study comprised 132
companies that employ
collectively 4.6 million people.
% Men
% Women

6. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
But why?
It doesn’t make sense.

7. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
What’s true in
the world?
Literature
review.
Synthesize
findings &
map out a
system model
Make explicit
strategies to
support the
advancement
of women.
My plan.

8. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
1. Stanford Study: Climbing the Technical Ladder: Obstacles and Solutions for Mid-Level women in Technology, Clayman Institute for Gender Research 2009
2. McKinsey Study: Unlocking the full potential of women at work, 2012
3. Catalyst Study: Good Intentions, Imperfect Execution? Women get fewer Game Changing Leadership Roles, 2011
4. Anita Borg Institute: Barriers to the advancement of technical women. A review of the literature, 2007
5. HBR: To Close the Gender Gap, Focus on Assignments, 2012
6. HBR: Why Men Still Get More Promotions than Women, 2010
7. HBR: Women in Management, Delusions of Progress, 2010
8. Bersin: What Exactly Are Talent Calibration Sessions Versus Talent Reviews?, 2008
9. Fortune: The abrasiveness trap: High-achieving men and women are described differently in reviews, 2015
10. HBR Press: Through the Labyrinth, 2007
11. Catalyst Study: The Double-Bind DIlemma, 2007
12. HBR Study: Women Get Fewer Game-Changing Leadership Roles, 2012
13. Clayman Institute: Senior Leadership Summit for Women (WT2 Conference), Feb 2016
14. Forbes: The 'Glass Cliff' Phenomenon That Senior Female Leaders Face Today And How To Avoid It, 2015
15. PWC/Strategy& Study: The 2013 Chief Executive Study, 2013
16. Google, Search result definition. March 2015
17. Journal of Advances in Gender Research: Gendered Networks: Professional Connections of Science and Engineering Faculty
18. UC Hastings: Double Jeopardy? Gender Bias Against Women of Color in Science
19. HBR: Prove Yourself ... Again: Why Women Get Overlooked for Management Positions
20. Slate Study: How to Get Ahead as a Woman in Tech: Interrupt Men
21. Catalyst Study: The Double Bind Dilemma for Women in Leadership: Damned if You Do Doomed if You Don’t
22. McKinsey Study: Women in the Workplace, 2016 (Just published this week)
The studies.

9. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
• Senior women get fewer key opportunities than men.12, 14
• Self-reinforcing factors bias leadership pipelines against women.1, 2
• Research from leading institutions has identified a small number of causal
patterns.2, 13
• This situation can be reversed over time through sustained effort rooted in
belief about the problem.1, 2
What I found.

10. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Stanford researchers have
identified 3 causal factors
that significantly hinder
women’s ascent to top
leadership roles.13
Good news. Sourcing &
Screening
Interviewing
& Selecting
Power & Team
Dynamics
Performance
Reviews
Talent Reviews
& Calibration
Assignments &
Promotions
Compensation

11. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Women’s Leadership Pipeline
Inputs and Outcomes
Sponsorship
Networks &
Social Capital
Talent
Reviews
Stretch
Assignments
Senior
Leadership
OPT OUT
Staff Role
Laterals
Sidelines
70%
Mentorship Glass Cliff
20%
Performance
Evals

12. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Women’s Leadership Pipeline
Inputs and Outcomes
Sponsorship
Networks &
Social Capital
Talent
Reviews
Stretch
Assignments
Senior
Leadership
OPT OUT
Staff Role
Laterals
Sidelines
70%
Mentorship Glass Cliff
20%
Performance
Evals

13. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Women’s Leadership Pipeline
Inputs and Outcomes
Stretch
Assignments
Senior
Leadership
70%

14. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Women’s Leadership Pipeline
Inputs and Outcomes
Stretch
Assignments
Senior
Leadership
OPT OUT
Staff Role
Laterals
Sidelines
70%
Glass Cliff

15. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Women’s Leadership Pipeline
Inputs and Outcomes
Talent
Reviews
Stretch
Assignments
Senior
Leadership
OPT OUT
Staff Role
Laterals
Sidelines
70%
Glass Cliff

16. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Women’s Leadership Pipeline
Inputs and Outcomes
Sponsorship
Networks &
Social Capital
Talent
Reviews
Stretch
Assignments
Senior
Leadership
OPT OUT
Staff Role
Laterals
Sidelines
70%
Glass Cliff
20%

17. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Women’s Leadership Pipeline
Inputs and Outcomes
Sponsorship
Networks &
Social Capital
Talent
Reviews
Stretch
Assignments
Senior
Leadership
OPT OUT
Staff Role
Laterals
Sidelines
70%
Mentorship Glass Cliff
20%
Performance
Evals

18. Janice Fraser, 2016
@clevergirl
Explicit Strategies
For Managing Career Advancement
Sponsorship
Networks &
Social Capital
Stretch
Assignments
Staff Role
Laterals
Sidelines
Glass Cliff
CULTIVATE
relationships across “type”
BE ONE FIND ONE
Remember this is a quid pro quo
relationship
CAUTION
CAUTION
SEEK

19. Thank you!