Balancing the Boardroom: Leslie Greenwood and Nycole Walsh on the C-suite Gender Gap

Corporate America has long been plagued with massive gender disparities in the C-suite. It’s no secret that these positions are male-dominated, but the numbers behind this disparity are rarely explored. That’s where Leslie Greenwood and Nycole Walsh come into the picture. Greenwood is a co-founder of Wednesday Women, an organization built to uplift women executive leaders through speaking engagements, podcasts and improved visibility. Walsh is a Senior Manager at Kickstand, a tech PR firm built for high-growth companies. Greenwood and Walsh have come together to author the “Balancing the Boardroom” study, an in-depth look at the gender imbalances in C-suite leadership roles. 

Survey demographics 

• 622 office workers surveyed in February 2024. 

• 83 percent women (522) women and 17 percent men (100). 

• A racially diverse group of white/Caucasian, Black/African American, East Asian, Asian American, and Hispanic workers.  

• Majority in middle management; roughly five percent of the survey were top-level executives, founders and owners. 

Reinforcing the guy’s club 

Opportunities for women in senior leadership positions are still shockingly scarce, and much of that has to do with everlasting cultural norms draped over the corporate sphere. Walsh found herself stunned by some of the numbers she was seeing. 

“I was also a little bit surprised to see the numbers show how glaringly prevalent we still have kind of a guy’s club mentality when it comes to opportunities with senior leadership.” 

 The study overwhelmingly backs this up: 82 percent of men believed they could reach a position in the C-suite, as compared to just 63 percent of their female counterparts. Many men see senior management as a certainty in their career; Greenwood has some thoughts regarding the underlying conditions for that.  

“When people ranked the words they were reinforced with as children, girls were told to be quiet and reserved, and boys were told to be confident and brave.” 

Confidence is key when it comes to professional development. Role models preach confidence for men from a young age, which tilts the playing field in their favor. Teaching women to be reserved from a young age only hurts their careers when they attempt to climb the ladder down the road. 

Barriers and double standards 

Speaking opportunities are a great way for professionals to gain confidence in their careers. There’s just one slight problem with that: women have a much more difficult time applying for speaking engagements. In fact, women are 21 percent more likely than men to have never applied for a speaking role. 

It gets even worse. Women who were raised to be quiet and reserved are a ghastly 57 percent less likely to apply for speaking engagements than those who are raised to be more direct and outgoing. 

Speaking engagements aside, professional development events are often heavily skewed in favor of men – think golf trips and late-night drinks. A staggering 41 percent of women answered that professional development events are completely inaccessible to them. 

So how can we “balance the boardroom?” 

The numbers are certainly disappointing, but they aren’t set in stone. Change can begin with you, and some suggestions are easier than you might think. 

• Become a cheerleader. Many women lose support for their careers long before they step into an office. By supporting the goals of the women in your life, you can build the foundation for a successful career. Help provide the support and confidence needed to climb the ladder. 

• Don’t be afraid to be direct. It may feel uncomfortable, but the numbers don’t lie. Women who identify as having a more direct communication style are significantly more likely to find themselves in C-suite positions than those who identify themselves as quiet or reserved. 

• Schedule inclusive events. Everyone has different schedules and interests. Sticking to the eighteen holes of golf or the after-work drinks for your professional development is probably going to attract the same crowd every time. Consider offering events at different times throughout the day and try to get a feel for what venues can attract a more gender-inclusive crowd. 

• If you’re an event manager, consider adding women speakers to your panel. If you’re a woman interested in public speaking, apply! Building up the courage to apply for speaking engagements is often the most difficult part of the process, but don’t worry, you’ve got this! 

See more insights in the full “Balancing the Boardroom” study.

Interested in more conversations with women in business? Check out our interview with Kendall Hope Tucker about Finding Success with a Business-to-Consumer Startup.