August 26, 2025 12:00 PM ET 

In collaboration with Harvard Business Review: 

Women around the world do extremely well when it comes to their education. They graduate at higher rates than men and have higher average GPAs. But then a strange thing happens: upon entering the workforce, they immediately lose their advantage. When the first promotions come around, the slide continues. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women overall and 77 women of color get promoted. 

This is what McKinsey senior partners Kweilin Ellingrud, Lareina Yee, and María del Mar Martínez call "the broken rung," and its effects compound throughout women's careers, causing them to fall behind at the start and keeping them from catching up.  

Join us for a personal conversation as we discuss potential pitfalls and give inspiring and instructive advice for women seeking to climb over the broken rung using strategies that increase their experience capital.

Expert Speaker 

Kweilin Ellingrud is a director of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and leads Diversity and Inclusion for McKinsey globally. At MGI, Kweilin has led research on gender equality (Power of Parity), racial equity, generative AI, the future of work, productivity, and sustainable and inclusive growth. She is a frequent speaker at global conferences and is a contributing columnist for Forbes. She is also the co-author of the book The Broken Rung to help women navigate their careers.