Here at Imprimis, we hold Lunch and Learn’s for our customers every month or so on a topic we feel is important and current. Lately the topics have revolved around women in leadership or rather how to get more women ready for top leadership positions and how to keep them as they progress through their journey. For example, 41 percent of women leave technology companies after 10 years of experience compared to only 17 percent of men.

This month’s was Tanis Cornell, former corporate executive, and now the owner of EWF Dallas (Executive Women’s Forums). After spending much of her career as an executive in the technology industry, Tanis had the opportunity to start the Dallas EWF, enabling her to pursue her passion to  help women in corporations and in their own businesses improve and expand their leadership capabilities.  EWF provides peer advisory groups, coaching, education and business advice for women professionals and executives.

Why the gap between the education and experience levels of men and women (women have as much or more than men) and their leadership progression? Tanis discussed the reasons:

1. Unconscious gender bias  (such as “she would not want this job, it’s a lot of travel”
2. Gender differences – men tend to be more competitive; women more interested in people – could it be socialization; however gender differences not well understood or valued
3. Balance of children (or aging parents) and work – women still carry most of  the load especially single mothers
4. Men are promoted on potential and women on performance
5. Level of mentors helps with advancement and men’s mentors generally 3 levels higher than women’s

How can companies and their HR organizations – where leadership development may fall – address these gaps:

1.  Invest in programs to grow female leaders
2. Groom women for line management positions
3. Actively find “sponsors” for women within the organization
4. Evaluate women’s potential, not just their performance, for promotions
5. Acknowledge and address subconscious bias
6. Expand the type of networking activities in your organization

To start with, HR and senior leaders need to know:

1. Exactly why women are not sitting at your leadership tables in your organization
2. Where in the pipeline are you losing women and why

Although there is a growing body of research to show that companies with a high representation of women in senior management had a higher return on equity and that if a group includes more women, its collective intelligence rises (Harvard Business Review 4/2015), it has not been enough to change corporate behavior.

We all hope this will change as more women break into leadership roles and as they are viewed as non-threatening.