Here is a brief excerpt from a recent report on research conducted by McKinsey & Company. One of its most important findings: To ensure that corporate culture supports — not hinders — the ability of women to reach top management, companies must address mind-sets and develop a more inclusive, holistic diversity agenda.

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Female executives are ambitious and sure of their own abilities to become top managers, though they are much less confident that their companies’ cultures can support their rise. In our latest survey on gender and workplace diversity, the results indicate that collective, cultural factors at work are more than twice as likely as individual factors to link to women’s confidence that they can reach top management.

According to our previous surveys on the topic and our 2012 analysis of more than 230 European companies, many organizations are implementing measures to increase gender diversity within their management teams. Indeed, majorities of executives have said in earlier research that their companies had implemented at least one measure to recruit, retain, promote, and develop women—yet few companies have seen notable improvements as a result. The 2013 results confirm that, beyond specific actions, culture has a critical role to play in either supporting or hindering efforts to advance diversity.

The responses suggest that mind-sets and company culture are significant in affecting women’s confidence to achieve their career goals; they also highlight the particular aspects of corporate culture that make it most difficult for women to reach the top. Yet there is still a notable gap in how men and women regard the gender-diversity problem. Men are much more likely than women to disagree that female executives face more difficulties in reaching top management, and men see less value in the diversity initiatives that can correct the gender imbalance.

What women want

At the individual level, female respondents report that their career ambitions are just as high as those of their male peers.3 Seventy-nine percent of all midlevel or senior-level women say they have the desire to reach a top-management position over the course of their careers, compared with 81 percent of midlevel or senior men. Looking at responses from the senior executives who are one step away from the C-suite, women are more likely than men to strongly agree that they have top-management ambitions and want to advance in their organizations (Exhibit 1).

Women’s career ambitions exceed those of their male peers.

Women are also ready to do what it takes to achieve their ambitions. Nearly two-thirds of both male and female executives say they are willing to sacrifice part of their personal lives to reach a top-management position. What’s more, three-quarters of women—a slightly higher share than men—say they promote themselves and communicate their ambitions to direct supervisors and others at the top, while 45 percent of women (and 48 percent of men) say they have proactively asked for promotions.

Yet female executives are much less certain they will reach the top: 69 percent of midlevel or senior women say they are confident they will succeed in reaching a top-management position, compared with 83 percent of their male peers. To better understand what affects confidence levels among women, we identified two sets of factors that can drive or inhibit career success: those that center on personal actions, desires, and initiative to advance, and those that reflect the organizational environment in which executives work.

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Looking ahead

o Increase male sponsorship. One specific way to include more men while generating more support is through sponsorship. Professional women tend to lack effective sponsors who advocate for them and make sure they have access to all possible opportunities— a disadvantage that could lead to more women dropping out of the pipeline before they reach top management. Therefore, including more men not only as mentors but also as true sponsors5 could provide more support for women and engage more men on the diversity agenda.

o Diversify performance models. Another way companies can make diversity programs more inclusive is by evolving performance and leadership models so they are more gender neutral (that is, so they offset the negative impact of maternity leave and work flexibility on career tracks). They can also use evaluation criteria that value a wide range of leadership habits and techniques. Beyond the implementation of specific measures to recruit, retain, promote, and develop women, companies need to create a corporate culture that welcomes various leadership styles.

For more on this research, download the full report on which this survey was based, Women Matter 2013 –Gender diversity in top management: Moving corporate culture, moving boundaries (PDF–2.8MB).

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Here is a direct link to the complete article.

The contributors to the development and analysis of this survey include Sandrine Devillard and Sandra Sancier-Sultan, both directors in McKinsey’s Paris office, and Charlotte Werner, an associate principal in the Paris office.

They would also like to acknowledge Tiphaine Bannelier-Sudérie and Cecile Kossoff for their contributions to this work.