A new study released by women business leaders organization TEMPO Milwaukee sheds light on the obstacles many women say are standing in the way of their professional advancement, leading some to consider leaving their organizations or Milwaukee altogether.
Conducted in February, the “Voices of Women at Work: The Milwaukee Experience” study surveyed 212 TEMPO members and emerging women leaders across executive, C-suite and senior management roles. Among the top workplace barriers respondents identified were managing caregiving demands (43%), burnout issues (39%), promotional bias (more than 25%) and sponsorship gaps (more than 25%). Additional barriers include lack of a clear path to promotion, waning flexibility and lack of pay equity, according to a press release Thursday.
Nearly half of respondents said they’ve considered leaving their organization due to lack of advancement opportunities and 41% said they’ve considered leaving Milwaukee altogether.
Some respondents identified obstacles more specific to Milwaukee and its business culture, including in-office work policies and male-dominated companies and professional networks.
“Milwaukee has a strong base of women leaders, but the pathways into senior roles are still shaped by long-standing networks that women, especially women of color, are often excluded from,” one respondent said.
“Local, white men who all know each other are still doing business among themselves and not including women as equals,” said another.
Around 42% of respondents said they’ve considered opting out of pursuing a promotion due to lack of support and nearly half cited unclear advancement paths as a reason for disengagement.
On the other hand, the study highlights practices that would help influence respondents to stay and pursue higher-level positions at their respective companies. Topping the list is compensation equity, cited by 91% of respondents, leadership development by 90%, flexible work arrangements by 84% and formal sponsorship by 68%.
TEMPO highlights several action steps companies can take to help support women and broaden opportunities for advancement, including investing in formal sponsorship, ensuring pay equity through transparent audits, defining and communicating clear advancement criteria, expand leadership development opportunities and normalizing flexible work environments that support caregiving responsibilities.
Credit: Kenny Yoo Jennifer Dirks.
“These are not radical changes,” said TEMPO president and CEO Jen Dirks, “but the outcomes of these actions could be transformative for women and their employers.”
Dirks noted that the challenges cited in TEMPO’s recent study are in line with what women are experiencing nationwide, based on McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace research.
“…benchmarking ourselves against national data is critical,” said Dirks. “What’s different here is the clear signal that women are considering leaving their organizations or the region entirely.”
TEMPO’s study was released on the heels of an annual report by Milwaukee Women inc that shows little change over the past year in female representation in corporate boardrooms in Wisconsin, indicating a possible slowdown in diversification momentum. Women currently hold 141 out of 459 board seats (30.7%) at Wisconsin’s top 50 public companies, just one seat more than 2024. Of those 459 board seats, women of color hold 27 (5.9%), one seat fewer than in 2024, according to the 2025 report, released Tuesday.
