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It can be lonely at the top—especially if you’re the only person representing your demographic in the C-suite. Climbing the corporate ladder is daunting for anyone, but some groups of employees face more "broken rungs" along the way.
Latinas confront the most challenges in career advancement and are the most underrepresented demographic in the C-suite, according to a new report from Lean In, a non-profit supporting women in leadership. While Latinas make up over 9% of the American population, they account for under 5% of entry level staffers according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This “broken rung” hobbles career progression for the cohort as a whole, and their representation between entry level jobs and C-suite positions further declines by 78%—the largest drop of any racial or gender group. By comparison, white women face a 24% reduction between entry level and C-suite participation, while white men are represented in the C-suite at a rate 64% higher than they are in entry level positions.
“To lose so much ground at the step up to manager, and then lose again at the step up to VP, is really contributing to the overall loss of representation and broken rung problem,” Rachel Thomas, chief executive officer of Lean In, tells Fortune. She adds that it’s been a persistent issue since the group began tracking these metrics back in 2019. “Latinas are consistently losing the most ground.”
These numbers are particularly troubling considering that Latinas prioritize career advancement more than all other women, according to the report. On average, the group wants to become senior leaders and advance within the next two years at a higher rate than white women.
“They want to be senior leaders not only because they want to improve the business, but also because they want to pay it forward. Latinas and Black women want to make the culture of work better, so there's more motivating them to get to senior leadership than white women or men,” she says.
But bosses aren’t taking Latina women’s career ambitions seriously. The report finds that managers have less confidence in Latinas than any other group of women. And because they are often the gatekeepers of promotions, that can have serious effects on these employees and the diversity of workplaces.
Thomas believes this unconscious bias likely stems from harmful stereotypes about Latinx people in general. About 74% of Latinas say they experience microaggressions at work, according to the report. “Bias is really a powerful force—unfortunately, rarely for good. My sense is that is what we're seeing at play,” says Thomas.
Roberts says when it comes to repairing the broken corporate ladder, employers should first make themselves aware of this problem, reevaluate hiring at the entry level, and think about how they can correct for bias in promotion decision making. Companies can also make sure all employees know that they take bias seriously, and bring in a third party to help assess job candidates fairly.
“Mitigating and combating bias takes real effort. You've got to put a laser focus on it, track outcomes, and continue to tinker with your systems to make sure that you're doing everything humanly possible to eliminate bias,” says Thomas. “It’s not just good for Latinas, it's good for everybody. We all benefit when there's less bias in those decision-making processes.”
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
