“I DON’T know any successful women who haven’t had a powerful sponsor in their organisation to give them their first big break,” says Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, the boss of 20-first, a consultancy that helps companies put more women into senior jobs. That sentiment is echoed by many people who work in this field. But why do women need so much help?

Many men who climb the corporate ladder have sponsors, too. But women need help more because they are generally more reluctant to promote themselves. They are also less likely to build up useful networks of contacts.

That may help to explain why women find it so hard to get anywhere near the executive suite. A new report produced by the Centre for Talent Innovation (CTI),  offers a detailed picture of the female talent pipeline in Britain, based on a survey of about 2,500 graduate employees. It notes that although women in Britain account for 57% of new recruits to white-collar jobs, they make up just 17% of executive directors and a mere 4% of chief executives of the FTSE’s 100 biggest companies. It is not that the women lack ambition, says the report. No less than 79% of senior women in the sample said they aspired to a top job and 91% were keen to be promoted.

Still, the survey’s main finding is striking. Only 16% of the sample had sponsors, defined as people several levels above them who give them career advice, introduce them to contacts and help them get promotions.

Drawing attention to the problems of women in upper management makes a useful change from the usual lament about the lack of women on boards. The scarcity of both is a symptom of something bigger: a lot of employers care how many senior women working for them. Studies show a correlation between more women in senior positions and superior company performance.

Ms Wittenberg-Cox says there have been so many initiatives that many firms suffer from diversity fatigue, but none has dealt with “the appalling reality of the pipeline”. The only remedy, she reckons, is a change of thinking at the top.

沪江英语快讯：女性在职场中为什么总无法与男性并驾齐驱？据英国最近一项调查显示，女性职场人士不是缺少升值的野心和专业能力，而是没有一个职场“军师”给她们职业建议，帮助她们优化人际关系。不过话说回来，就算女白领们能够有好“军师”的指导，也未必能与男白领们并驾齐驱，毕竟职场一贯的规则是女弱男强。

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