New 2025 data: women want the promotion as much as men do, once they get the same support

Roughly eight out of every ten women say they are hoping to move up the ladder. Close to nine of every ten men say the same. As the 2025 Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey and LeanIn shows, once women get the very same sponsorship men already enjoy, that six-point distance disappears entirely.

For years, many leaders have argued that women simply want advancement less, which is why so few reach the director level and beyond. They step back, they put family first, they are "less ambitious," a line repeated in more talent reviews than anyone would say aloud. The evidence now points elsewhere. Desire is present at almost the same rate, and what separates the outcomes is not a personal trait but a reaction to how women are treated.

Where the figure originated

Since 2015, McKinsey and LeanIn have published Women in the Workplace each year, tracking how American companies and their employees are faring. The 2025 edition asks women and men whether they hope to move up, then examines what else is true for those who answer yes. The headline is the six-point gap. Beneath it sits the real finding: among employees who report equal support from their managers, including sponsorship and encouragement, the gap falls to zero. Because this comes from a survey and not a controlled experiment, it stops short of proving that backing causes women to aim higher. It does show the two rise together, and it undercuts the claim that women want it less once they receive what men receive. That same work revealed that among entry-level employees, 31% of women have a sponsor, while the share for men stands at 45%. The gap in support is real, and it starts early.

Here is how it plays out in an actual meeting.

Imagine sitting in a talent review as a vice president. An open SVP role has three candidates, two of them men. Someone remarks that the woman on the slate "hasn't really raised her hand." You know better. In one-on-one sessions, she has voiced the concern twice, and each time her manager simply nodded before changing the subject. The men did not need to raise theirs, because their sponsors spoke up for them in rooms like this one. Their ambition matches hers. Their visibility does not. By meeting's end, her name carries a question mark, and that mark points at her, not at the manager who never carried her message upward.

What this means for Richmond professionals

If someone has ever told you to "want it more," they handed you the wrong diagnosis, most likely from a position where their own desire was never questioned. The missing piece is not some personal trait you are supposed to possess. What makes the difference is a manager in Short Pump who speaks up for you when you are not in the room, a sponsor who recommends you for opportunities, and encouragement that arrives before you have to request it. Organizations either supply those things or they do not. You can go looking for them, but understand that you are making up for a missing ingredient, not repairing a personal flaw.

What comes next

Put your ambitions on the table where they cannot be missed. Send your manager a note that reads: "I would like to be considered for the next director-level role." "What would I need to demonstrate to be put forward?" Then, from a senior leader in Henrico or Chesterfield outside your reporting chain, request that they serve as a reference when candidates are gathered. In doing so, you are building for yourself the support men tend to receive by default.

Across your Central Virginia workplace, who advocates for you when you are out of the room?