Leaving the Ladder Down: Empowering Female Project Managers

Elizabeth is a freelance writer and project manager living and working in London. She runs The Otobos Group, a project communications consultancy specializing in project management.

  Career Development   Organizational Culture  

There are pay disparities in project management as there are in other fields, and a male project manager earns around 18% more than a female project manager in the United States*. It feels as important on this International Women’s Day as ever before that we do what we can to inspire inclusion so we can leave the ladder down for the women who follow us.

“Leaving the ladder down” is a reference to climbing the corporate ladder and helping those up who are on their journey behind us. The alternative is taking the ladder away, and making it harder for women (and anyone else) to climb into senior positions. Inclusive organizations should want to be sending down ladders to ensure the pipeline of leaders is as diverse as the organization itself.

Mentorship and networking are remarkably straightforward ways to support the career journeys for female project managers, particularly for women in male-dominated industries.

Navigating Career Pathways in Project Management
A mentor can help you navigate the career journey you want to take, whether that’s into a different specialism or up the organization into senior leadership positions.

As the person seeking a mentor, don’t limit yourself to one person: situational mentorship can broaden your access to experts and increase your network. As the person acting as a mentor, encourage your mentee to set…

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