Harappa Education, a learner-centered institution of the future, recently released a report on what women in leadership need. An extensive survey was conducted to better understand the prejudices and differentiated behavior towards women professionals and to incorporate their unique perspectives within curriculums designed to help empower women leaders and leaders-in-making. Harappa Education strongly believes that this International Labor Day, as we commemorate the labor movement which ushered in various reforms, it’s also crucial to look at the gaps in our workplaces from a gender lens.

The survey of more than 500 respondents revealed that while 99% of women believe it to be important for women professionals to build networks and alliances, only 47% of women actively pursue opportunities for their professional growth and learning. What’s more, across the survey sample set, a staggering 90% of female respondents stated that they hesitate to ask for a raise at work. 

The survey also uncovered some interesting insights regarding skills that women professionals perceive to be most important in their professional journeys. According to the data, close to 72% of women consider communication to be the top skill that continues to help them in their professional journey, followed by confidence (65%) and self-awareness (41%).

85% of the women professionals feel that at least once in their career, they have been perceived as ‘bossy’ or ‘dominating’ when they were just being assertive.

97% of the women consider it to be important for women professionals to cultivate a personal brand for themselves, while close to 74% of the women affirm calling themselves a perfectionist.

From women professionals with less than 20 years of work experience, 52% stated that they feel inadequate or underqualified for their positions, despite their multiple years of experience. This figure displayed a gradual decrease for women with more than 20 years of corporate experience (37%). Surprisingly, a mere 21% of women felt continuously supported by their male peers at workplaces.

The outlook for women at workplaces looks bright however as 87% of women respondents believe that the future for women in leadership looks promising in the coming 3 years. 

Harappa Education is an online learning institution focused on accelerating personal growth of their learners, to help them confidently navigate their most-crucial career cusps. Their much-awaited Women’s Leadership Program (WLP) that is aimed at empowering high potential women managers was launched on March 8, 2021. The Women’s Leadership Program has been designed around 15 must-have essential Thrive Skills—an essential set of cognitive, social, and behavioral skills—for women leaders. The survey findings echo these 15 skills: Supporting & Empowering Other Women, Questioning Limiting Beliefs, Being Resilient, Communicating with Power, Increasing Self Awareness, Cultivating a Personal Brand, Having The Courage to be Vulnerable, Overcoming Perfectionism, Tackling Imposter Syndrome, Balancing Passion w/ Persistence, Building Alliances & Networks, Asking For Money, Moving from judgmental to neutral language, Being Confident & Authentic, and Trusting One’s Voice. The program architecture is aimed at driving professional growth for women leaders and leaders in making, while bridging existing need gaps in the industry.