Recent key note presentation for WIN Global Conference, London 2025
I was almost an engineer. I was into science at school, and studied Maths, Physics and Electronics A ‘levels. An obvious career path for me was engineering. Then my Mum said to me, if you do Engineering as a degree, it will be all boys.
And so…I did Psychology (which was mostly girls). But my inherent interest in engineering continued and as a practicing psychologist, I have always chosen to work with engineers. I’ve worked in defence, aviation, construction and the nuclear industry.
My early experience, followed by these years of work, has made me curious about why we don’t have more women in leadership positions at the top of organisations. At a recent global conference (thank you, #WiNGlobal2025) I asked on stage whether people had heard these things said:
The suitable women aren’t out there
Women are less interested in leadership positions
Women prioritise family over career
Women can’t handle a high demand job
I asked this because I have heard them. All of them. And 94% of the 800 people in the room said they had also. The problem is that these statements don’t fit with the women that I know and have worked with. And they are based upon assumptions which are often flawed.
Are the suitable women out there? We know there is a higher percentage of women at lower levels in engineering organisations, but the numbers reduce at higher levels. Women are more likely to leave mid-career and less likely to return (EngineeringUK, 2025) but they tend to continue their careers with other organizations rather than leave work completely (e.g. Boushey, 2005). In fact, they may leave because of ambition not despite it – they are often frustrated about lack of progress.
Are women less interested in leadership? Studies have found that women are equally interested in promotion opportunities (e.g. Crowe et al, 2023). However, women are less likely to be promoted (Benson et al, 2022). Therefore, the gender gap in leadership may be less to do with the women themselves and more to do with the context within which they find themselves – there is more to do to understand what prevents women from reaching leadership positions (Ryan and Morgenroth, 2024).
Do women prioritise family over career? Women are more likely to be in part-time work and to spend that time in caring roles (e.g. Francis-Devine, 2025). However, these choices are, once again, influenced strongly by context. Mothers (as opposed to fathers) are less likely to see others like them in leadership roles and so may find it harder to reconcile their home and work identities (Morgenroth et al, 2021). They may also be less willing to sacrifice family time (than men), when they have lower expectations of succeeding in their career (Ryan and Morgenroth, 2024).
Can women handle a high demand job? It is hard to find evidence to suggest that women can’t handle high demand jobs. Women must be more exceptional (e.g. more highly qualified, more credible) than their male peers to achieve a high-level position within an organisation (e.g. Lyness et al 2006). However, two factors may contribute if women do find it harder to manage high demand jobs. Firstly, they do extra work in a male-dominated environment to fit in (e.g. Ryan, 2023). And secondly, they often pick up more domestic labour at home. More women than men are in dual-career relationships (McKinsey, 2019) and research found 72% of senior women have a partner who works full-time, whereas only 37% of men at the same level do (Lean In 2019). Even if both parents work full-time, research persistently shows that women pick up more of the primary child-care and household activities than men (e.g. ONS Time Use in the UK Census 2021; Gender Equity Policy Institute, 2024).
So, it’s not straightforward. But as I have shared, there is promising research out there which is helping us to understand the ‘why’ behind the lack of women in leadership, and how our efforts to change things needs to be looking with a much wider lens – the context and the environmental factors play a huge part.
I was almost an engineer, but my purpose became improving the world of work through applying psychology. And I believe taking a scientific approach to the way we work is the best way to ensure we spend money and time on the interventions which make a tangible and sustainable difference.
If you enjoyed this, you may want to read this article I wrote on the parallels between safety and diversity.
References
Boushey, H. (2005). Are Women Opting Out? Debunking the Myth. Centre for Economic and Policy Research.
EngineeringUK (May 2024, May 2025) Women in engineering and technology
Francis-Devine, B. Khadijah, Z. and Murray, A. (2025) Women and the UK economy, Research Briefing, House of Commons Library
Gender Equity Policy Institute (2024) The free-time gender gap
McKinsey & Company, 2019 Women in the workplace
ONS Time Use in the UK Census (2021)
UK Government Equalities Office, 2014
Hakim, C (2000) Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century: Preference Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press
