While there are some similarities between women and men executives, there are striking differences as well.

How do the career experiences of executive women compare to those of men? Catalyst surveyed more than 900 senior-level women and men from Fortune 1000 companies to find out. Released in June, Women and Men in U.S. Corporate Leadership: Same Workplace, Different Realities? is the latest from Catalyst’s research series devoted to women in corporate leadership, established in 1996. Findings from the new study show that women and men have similar career aspirations, advancement strategies, and barriers to success. However, the study also reveals some striking differences in the types of barriers experienced by each group and in how they balance work/life responsibilities.

The majority of women (55 percent) and men (57 percent) participants aspire to reach the most senior role in their organizations, challenging the assumption that there aren’t more women at the top because they don’t want to be there. In addition, women with children living with them are just as likely to want the corner office (55 percent) as those without children living with them (46 percent). In reaching for the top, men and women have used many of the same advancement strategies, including exceeding performance expectations, successfully managing others, seeking high-visibility assignments, and demonstrating expertise. They also experience a number of similar barriers along the way, such as lack of line experience, displaying a style different from the organizational norm, and lack of understanding of organizational politics.

Men and women are also similar in their desire for workplace flexibility, demonstrating that balancing work and personal responsibilities is not simply a women’s issue. Although women face more challenges in achieving work/life balance, women and men equally desire a variety of informal and formal flexible work arrangements. Clearly, workplace flexibility is no longer just about women and child care, but is more likely a quality of life issue for all employees.

Despite similar ambitions, the number of women at the top remains low compared to the number of men. Catalyst’s latest censuses show that although women make up 50.5 percent of the U.S. workforce, they hold only 15.7 percent of corporate officer positions in the Fortune 500 and 13.6 percent of board director seats. They hold only 7.9 percent of Fortune 500 highest titles, and represent only 5.2 percent of top earners. Furthermore, the majority of women corporate officers are in staff positions rather than line positions, which have profit-and-loss responsibility and more often lead to the top. Only 9.9 percent of line corporate officer jobs are held by women.

Although women and men experience many of the same barriers to success, women face a host of stereotypes and environmental challenges that their male colleagues do not, including exclusion from informal networks, gender-based stereotypes, lack of role models, and inhospitable corporate culture. In addition, women are significantly more likely than men to face challenges balancing their work and personal lives. They have also made more choices and trade-offs between their work and personal lives. Just over one-half of women (51 percent), compared to 43 percent of men, find difficulty achieving work/life balance. More than one-third of women (35 percent), compared to 22 percent of men, have had to put personal goals on hold in order to achieve their current career success. Furthermore, almost twice as many women (20 percent) as men (11 percent) have had to put their career goals on hold in order to achieve personal aspirations.

Despite the barriers they face and the trade-offs they’ve made, women executives are generally satisfied with their careers and the steps they have taken to navigate them. “It is important to recognize that not only do women have their sights set on the corner office, but they also have high levels of career satisfaction,” said Paulette R. Gerkovich, Ph.D., Senior Director, Research, Catalyst. “The large majority of both women and men report comfort with their choices. In terms of work satisfaction – 75 percent or more of both genders are satisfied with their current positions, their employers, and the respect with which they are treated by company leadership.”

These findings represent a new level of knowledge about women executives. We knew that to truly gain a comprehensive understanding of the experiences of executive women, we need also to explore the perceptions and experiences of executive men. With women continuing to experience a dramatically different workplace, in terms of the environments they work in and the barriers they face along the way, workplaces clearly need to change. And according to the men and women executives in this study, the responsibility for making change needs to be a shared one. Sixty percent of women and 62 percent of men agree that it is the company’s responsibility to change to meet the needs of management women. However, about one-half of women and men agree that it is up to women to change to fit into the corporate culture. Based on our research and work with companies, Catalyst knows that leveling the playing field requires the work and support of both women and men—of both individual employees and their companies.

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