Dive Brief:

• While more millennials may be seeking to leave their jobs in the next two years, slightly more women than men said they would be willing to leave, according to Deloitte analysis. The reason: almost half of female respondents said they were being “overlooked for potential leadership positions,” Fast Company reports.
• The supposed reasons for this are varied, according to the Deloitte report and Fast Company’s reporting, but include issues of flexibility, values, and differences in beliefs.
• The gap is present in the data. Millennial men are “significantly more likely than women” to say they lead or are a member of senior management. They’re also more likely to seek senior-level positions and “aim for the top job in their organization,” according to Fast Company.

Dive Insight:

As usual, there is no easy answer to the gender disparity in the workplace – but the data gathered together by Fast Company points to some specific reasons it may occur.

For example, women may be more likely than men to see the path to power as “less desirable” due to issues with flexibility and work-life balance. Additionally, millennial women place “greater emphasis” on deriving meaning from their work than men do – and understanding this difference will be key to retaining talented women, Fast Company notes.

But companies may also not be doing a good enough job of making gender diversity an actual priority. While 74% of companies say their leaders are making it a priority, less than half of workers believe it is actually a priority for their CEO, and only one-third “view it as a top priority” for their direct managers.