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Despite some advancements toward gender equality in the workplace, women still face barriers to ascending the corporate ranks. Lean In’s Women in the Workplace 2023 report found that although women are equally ambitious about their careers as men, just 87 women receive promotions for every 100 men promoted. And just 28% of C-suite positions are held by women.
In an effort to help change those statistics, Lean In, cofounded by former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, is rolling out a new leadership training program designed to help women advance their careers, advocate for themselves, and combat bias in the workplace. The program, called the Women at Work collection, consists of 18 videos and accompanying discussion guides for women at all career levels.
Much of the content focuses on workplace and career fundamentals, such as:
—How to become a transformational leader
—How to find sponsors who’ll accelerate your career
—How to negotiate as a woman—and get what you ask for
Rachel Thomas, cofounder and CEO of LeanIn.org, points out that women face implicit biases regarding how they communicate at work. As such, the communication and negotiation advice men receive is largely not applicable to women.
“I don’t love that you have to negotiate ‘as a woman.’ No one loves the ‘as a woman’ part of that statement. But the reality is, we know from lots of research that women get dinged if they’re seen as too self-promotional or too aggressive when they negotiate,” she says.
Lean In used its research and input from women in the organization’s communities and global career experts to develop the free curriculum. It also created several playlists tailored to women with different backgrounds, including “leadership fundamentals for Black women” and “career empowerment for working mothers.”
The organization has soft-launched the curriculum to more than 5,500 employees at 20 companies, including Mattel, UKG, and LinkedIn.
“The vision is that we want to reach as many women [and] as many companies as we can with hopefully insights and tools that help them lift up women and knock down bias,” says Thomas.
Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion
Reporter's Notebook
The most compelling data, quotes, and insights from the field.
It might be worth asking job candidates if the role they’re vying for was a childhood aspiration.
According to a ResumeLab survey of more than 1,000 U.S.-based workers, 84% achieved one of the jobs they dreamed of as a kid, including 80% of women and 89% of men.
Of those who hadn’t fulfilled their childhood dream job, 72% say they regret not doing so, despite 76% of non-achievers saying they took steps to pursue that career and 67% still hoping to snag that role.
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
- A former security head at X, previously known as Twitter, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company for allegedly firing him “in an unexplainable fashion” after he criticized cost-cutting measures introduced by Elon Musk. CNBC
- About 10,000 Amazon employees pushed back against the tech giant's effort to revoke a free coffee perk for workers, forcing the company to reverse course and extend the program. Seattle Times
- A majority of frontline workers surveyed by Gallup say they are indifferent to the fact that employees in other fields work from home. One-third say a work-from-home option would convince them to jump ship for another company. Washington Post
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
In-person return. GM's CEO said Tuesday that employees must return to the office three days a week if they live within 50 miles of a corporate location. —David Welch, Bloomberg
Expert advice. High-level representatives from companies like Hilton and Abbvie, who sit atop the 2023 World’s 25 Best Workplaces list from Great Place to Work, highlighted career growth opportunities, ESG initiatives, and employee resource groups as some of the best strategies to keep employees engaged and happy. —John Kell
Need for AI. Four out of five market intelligence researchers think they’ll use AI more in the next year, and a majority would rather lose 10% of their salary than work without AI tools. —Will Daniel
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