What Business Leaders Can Learn From Educators To Get More Women In Leadership

It is lonely at the top for women in business leadership.

In 2023, just 12 percent of C-suite and executive board positions were held by women–about 1 out of every 8 top leadership posts. This, according to a recent survey of 2,500 organizations in 12 countries across 10 industries by IBM’s Institute for Business Value and Chief—a private network of 20,000 women executives.

U.S. firms fare better, but even here, the pace of improvement is plodding. From 2017 to 2022, the percentage of women in C-suite positions in the U.S. rose from 20 percent to 26 percent, according to McKinsey’s “Women in the Workplace 2022” report. Despite widespread attention to the issue—particularly around the lagging representation in the tech industry and the startup space—we are decades away from even approaching parity between men and women in business leadership.

The U.S. education sector is no sparkling example of gender balance. Despite the lion’s share of teachers and a narrow majority of school-level leaders being women, just one in four school district superintendents are women. At the same time, understanding how those in our public education system are pursuing greater gender equality in leadership is potentially instructive for the efforts of those doing the same in the world of business.

I recently spoke with Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer who is the co-founder and CEO of ILO Group, a women-owned, leadership-focused education policy, strategy and research firm, and also leads Women Leading Ed, a new national network for current and aspiring district and state women superintendents. She is a former New York State Department of Education assistant commissioner who started her career as a special education teacher. The conversation below was edited for length and content.

Vicki Phillips: “Dr. Rafal-Baer, I’d like to start with your overall sense of the state of gender equality in business leadership. Where are we? What, if any, progress is being made?”

Julia Rafal-Baer: “Fundamentally, we are failing to fully leverage the leadership talent of half of our population. The media lit up recently touting news that 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies were led by women. That’s not success by any reasonable measure— it’s a big sign more needs to be done, and quickly.

Across sectors, there are pathways to leadership for women. But too many systems are still dominated by dynamics that took root when women were largely excluded from the workforce, nevermind leadership positions. A decade ago, when software engineer Tracy Chou started exposing a lack of gender representation in the tech industry, a study found that “45 percent of Silicon Valley companies did not have a single female executive.” That glaring inequity shows the underrepresentation of women in leadership is still very much a reality in much of the business world.”

VP: “It’s clear that we have miles to go before we sleep. What can we actually do about it? Do strategies exist that can move us forward?

JRB: “The good news is yes, they do exist. My colleagues and I have studied education leadership deeply and many of our recommendations can also be embraced by leaders in the business world.

First, we need to evolve our thinking about mentorships and embrace a culture of sponsorship, especially for women and women of color. Current leaders, including men, should be more open to sharing their networks with rising women and other underrepresented leaders. Research has found that people with sponsors are more likely to have the confidence to ask for stretch assignments and pay raises. Unfortunately, that study also found that men typically have twice as many sponsors as women.”

VP: “I’m a big proponent of the role of sponsorship and mentorship—I’ve seen its power in my own leadership journey. But that strikes me as a strategy dependent on the individual rather than a shift in how the system functions. What have you seen yield results on that broader level?

JRB: “Systemically, we need measures of accountability. In education, we have urged school boards that are hiring executive search firms to fill superintendent vacancies to set clear expectations about the need for diverse talent pools.

Similarly, in the business world, all searches should begin with a commitment to having a finalist pool with multiple women and multiple leaders of color. All of those involved in the hiring process should go through training to ensure they are aware of the way bias can creep into the process, and commitments should be made about the types of questions that are off-limits in the hiring process. Too often, those conducting the search mirror the lagging leadership mix writ large—it’s imperative that we have hiring committees with greater diversity. Accountability and transparency are key.”

VP: “That strikes me as a thoughtful observation: looking at the mechanisms guiding the inputs that in turn drive the outputs we want to influence. But it’s not just about hiring, it’s about retaining and elevating women already in the leadership pipeline. Are there workplace conditions that need interrogation?”

JRB: “Absolutely, and that starts with doing more to prioritize and normalize the importance of health and wellness. This means providing incentive packages that include health and wellness incentives, family leave, off-limit time for contacting the organization leader, stronger moving and relocation packages, and executive coaching services.

We also need to show women that we’ll invest in them. In March, we marked Equal Pay Day, the amount of time it would take women in 2022 and 2023 to earn the amount of money men made in 2022. For women of color, Equal Pay Day won’t fall this year until September. We can’t expect to change the demographics of leadership in business, education or any field if we put up barriers to the top, only to pay the few who get there less than those who preceded them.”

VP: “Pay inequality is a pressing matter in its own right - one that’s clearly connected to how seriously organizations and firms take their commitment to the cause of gender equity overall. Do you have closing thoughts for readers?”

JRB: “Thank you for the opportunity. I think the overall point I would make is that we have to move beyond symbolic efforts, that we need substantive and systematic changes to see the leadership representation reach something approaching equality.

The reforms to the culture of leadership, the way that organizations and firms function, cannot take hold if we are complacent or too self-congratulatory about miniscule improvements. The clear and persistent gaps that we’ve allowed to continue to exist will only be closed through intentional and sustained change. Without it, we all lose out: women and the organizations and firms that could benefit from their unrealized leadership potential.”