Insights: Accelerating women’s leadership in the workplace 

Even in 2025, there is clear evidence that women still encounter barriers in progressing to senior leadership roles. This can be seen in the low percentage of women in senior posts in FTSE companies as well as other similar types of internationally recognised metrics.

Data on gender pay gaps also highlights the level of progress that needs to happen. 

The ‘solution’ to supporting women in the workplace on their leadership journey is often to provide a mentor. There are many advantages to mentoring, such as sharing knowledge, building confidence and receiving constructive feedback. It can be a worthwhile process for both the mentor and mentee, however, the success is dependent on finding the right mentors and the two parties building a conducive working relationship.  

Women should build a network at work

Allies in the workplace can play a more proactive role in identifying openings and providing support as critical friends. They can advocate for their peer with other influential stakeholders, introduce them to their networks and help to develop their agency for career growth.  

Women’s careers can be accelerated by providing them with opportunities (and time) that enable them to shine by demonstrating their skills, creativity, knowledge and expertise. This is often part of a wider talent management programme where colleagues with high potential are identified and supported to retain them in the organisation. Articulating clear career paths can be advantageous for organisations and future leaders so that they can visualise what they are aiming towards without needing to leave the organisation to move forward. 

Organisations should remove unnecessary barriers, like having ultra-specific criteria that exclude people, for example, an employee must have five years of experience to be eligible for a promotion. Similarly, it is important to critically review all criteria to ensure they are appropriate and commensurate with the role and level of appointment. 

There is some interesting research that suggests that women are more likely to use ‘softer’ language within job and promotion applications and may underplay the extent of some of their previous achievements.  

 Companies can start with the right steps 

Organisations can help to reduce the risk of women de-selecting themselves by considering the following: 

• Reviewing the language used in recruitment adverts, job descriptions and personal specifications  
• Mandatory unconscious bias training for all involved in the selection of new and/or internal employees 
• Allowing opportunities to get formative feedback on applications 
• Running promotion and advancement workshops  
• Transparency in decision-making (ensuring assumptions are not  relied upon) 
• Ensuring diversity on the interview panel  

In the education sector, there is a tendency for women to take on a disproportionate amount of ‘administrative roles’ which are essential to the organisation but can be very time-consuming and less linked to promotion criteria. Organisations should review the spread of these roles and identify ways in which they may be allocated more fairly so as not to inadvertently have a negative career impact. 

It is easy to make assumptions as to what might make leadership roles for women more attractive based on a common impression that it is difficult to offer flexibility in the most senior of positions. Evidence suggests that this does not have to be the case and that organisations that offer different types of flexibility can benefit from more engaged and higher-performing staff. Leaders who openly embrace this flexibility should help encourage more women to apply for roles without fear of losing their current flexible working arrangements. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to accelerating the career of women, and having the opportunity for open dialogue is important as part of the talent management and performance review process.

Organisations should commit to providing access to learning and development opportunities and acting upon the subsequent feedback to continuously improve the provision.

Finally, as the saying goes, ‘you have to see it to be it’, so celebrating the successes of women is essential. 

The writer is the head of Edinburgh Business School and Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University Dubai.

Watch: The future of education: Heriot-Watt University’s Professor Richard A Williams shares insights