PwC study: 42 pct of women feel nervous about impact of starting a family on career

According to a PwC study, more women are pursuing their career goals than ever before. However, 42 percent of women feel nervous about the impact of starting a family on their career.

A total of 82 percent of the women surveyed are confident about their ability to fulfil their career aspirations and 73 percent are actively seeking career advancement opportunities, the report shows. On the other hand, 42 percent feel nervous about the impact starting a family might have on their career and 48 percent of new mothers felt overlooked for promotions and special projects upon their return to work. Moreover, 45 percent believe diversity can be a barrier to career progression and only 51 percent of women feel their employers are doing enough to improve gender diversity 58 percent of women identified greater transparency as the critical step employers can take.

According to the report, titled Time to talk: what has to change for women at work, shows that women are confident, ambitious and ready for what’s next, but many don’t trust what their employers are telling them about career development and promotion; or what helps or hurts their career.

Although CEOs recognise the importance of being transparent about their diversity and inclusion programmes to build trust, the message isn’t universal and strong enough. 45 percent of women believe an employee’s diversity status (gender, ethnicity, age, sexual preference) can be a barrier to career progression in their organisation, and only 51 percent of women agree that employers are doing enough to progress gender diversity.

To improve career development opportunities, women identified greater transparency (58 percent) as the critical step employers can take. This means offering staff a clear understanding of the expectations on both sides of the employment equation, including information about career progression and success, and open conversations with employees on where they stand and what is expected of them to advance.

“According to this global survey, women are confident, ambitious and actively pursuing their career goals and this is to be welcomed. Leaders should focus on creating an environment where both women and men can have attractive career opportunities and can have open conversations on what it takes to progress. PwC Romania is committed to support diversity in all its forms, including in terms of gender, and this has been translated in recent years in increasing the share of women Partners and Directors within the firm”, stated Ionut Simion, Country Managing Partner, PwC Romania.

PwC surveyed over 3,600 professional women aged 28-40 to find out about their career development experiences and aspirations. The survey included respondents from employers across 27 industry sectors and from over 60 countries worldwide.