Dive Brief:

• A Yale University global study on factors affecting women’s careers found that respondents were 36% more likely to recommend someone for a promotion if they're available to work 24/7. The study, led by Frances Rosenbluth, a professor of political science at Yale, surveyed 5,000 respondents from 100 countries.
• Researchers concluded that women’s careers are negatively impacted by the assumption that people who can work around the clock are more promotable than those who can’t. Globally, many women have both work and home responsibilities that prevent them from being available around the clock.
• Another key finding: 65% of respondents felt that senior management believed women were responsible for most of the childcare duties in the home.

Dive Insight:

Survey results often are based on respondents’ perceptions rather than facts, but Yale's conclusions about the two key findings working against women are nonetheless plausible, given the global prevalence of gender stereotypes in the workplace.

Although the first finding wasn’t gender-related, it implies that women, who reportedly still have the bulk of home responsibilities, probably are less likely to be promoted than men. The perception is that women aren’t as serious about their careers.

This problem has been documented by a growing body of research showing that women in top companies struggle to make their way toward the C-suite. A crucial factor of this outcome it that it's also difficult for women to earn early promotions, a key early step toward future career progress.

The second key finding confirms the first: employers are likely to expect women to have a bigger share of childcare responsibilities. These perceptions deprive women of promotional opportunities their performance has earned them.

Such statistics also reinforce the importance of expanding family-friendly parental leave policies and childcare benefits. Aside from their place as great recruiting tools for finding young talent, these benefits may also help to alleviate financial anxiety among households that depend heavily on a mother's income. Should you consider expanding your offerings, just make sure you do it responsibly.