The Broken Rung

Introduction

Women outpace men in education around the world. They graduate at higher rates and have higher average GPAs. However, despite these successes, women lose their advantage when entering the workforce. For every 100 men who are promoted to the first step up to manager, only 81 women get the same opportunity. This phenomenon causes women to fall behind early on, making it difficult to ever catch up. We refer to this often missed or delayed first promotion as the “broken rung.” The actions that women can take to leap over the “broken rung” is the subject of the book of the same title I co-authored that will be published on March 11.

Building Experience Capital

If the “broken rung” is the issue, the solution is for women to build more experience capital and proactively steer their careers in different ways. Experience capital is the skills, expertise, and wisdom that employees gain on the job. Over time, experience capital increases an employee’s value to the organization and accounts for roughly 50% of an employee’s lifetime earnings on average.

The Pay Gap

In the U.S., women have a 27-cent pay gap for every dollar than men earn, and 80% of that gap is explainable. Of the portion that is explainable, one-third is due to different hours worked and experienced gained, and the other two-thirds is due to different career choices that women make—for more flexible jobs, less competitive jobs (e.g., sales), or jobs that are more closely aligned to what they would enjoy.

Why Women Lose Ground

The first third is because women accumulate less time on the job than men. Women average 8.6 years at work for every ten years by men because, on average, women work fewer hours, take longer breaks between jobs, and occupy more part-time roles than men, according to McKinsey Global Institute research. The remaining two-thirds is because even when men and women start out in the same occupation, women are more likely to stay in the same income quintile or move down an income quintile, while men are more likely to move up. This is due to occupation selection and how men and women move jobs over time, with women more often selecting jobs that have flexible hours or geography, and jobs that are less overtly competitive (with transparent success metrics like sales roles).

How to Build Experience Capital

Seek a Company, Not Just a Job

When looking for your next role, it’s wise to prioritize the company over the actual role or the boss. Companies that can have the most impact on your learning and growth do three main things well: They support employee continuous learning and development, they encourage rotational roles across a career, and they have a clear and successful strategy. Effective organizations provide ample chances for employees to grow through training and expectations of mutual feedback, which has a lasting impact on their experience capital.

Make Big, Bold Moves

The moves you make throughout your career, whether between roles, organizations, or industries, significantly shape your career trajectory and the growth of your experience capital. Our data highlights two types of moves that have the greatest impact: big, early moves within the first five years of your career; and bold moves, which involve switching to a job that requires a significant share of new skills.

Invest in Your Mental, Physical, and Financial Health

Regardless of what tactics you use to rise in your career and build your experience capital, it will be impossible to reach your full earning potential or achieve your ambitions without taking care of your mental, physical, and financial health. Around the world, on average, women spend eleven years in debilitating health, compared to the 8 years for men. Women are also 1.6 times more likely than men to experience a mental illness. To set yourself up for long-term health and ensure you can be healthy across a career and a lifetime; you need to focus on the basics of a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating healthy, exercise, good sleep, regular health screenings, and advocating for yourself in terms of your health.

Conclusion

Maximizing your experience capital may sound like a big undertaking, but applying strategic tactics to your career path will accelerate your growth and multiply your lifetime earnings.

FAQs

Q: What are the key takeaways from this article?

A: The key takeaways are to prioritize building experience capital, making big, bold moves, and investing in mental, physical, and financial health to maximize lifetime earnings.

Q: What are some strategies for building experience capital?

A: Strategies include seeking a company that supports employee learning and development, making big, bold moves, and investing in one’s mental, physical, and financial health.

Q: Why do women tend to fall behind in the workplace?

A: Women tend to fall behind because they accumulate less time on the job, choose less competitive jobs, and are more likely to stay in the same income quintile or move down an income quintile, rather than moving up.

Q: What is the pay gap between men and women?

A: In the U.S., women have a 27-cent pay gap for every dollar than men earn, and 80% of that gap is explainable.