Presentation Recap: Women in Project Management - Breaking the Glass Ceiling

 

By: Laura Lazzerini, PMP & Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA

In April, we presented at the PMI Global Summit Series Europe 2025 event held in Barcelona. This was a great event with featured speakers, exhibits, and networking activities. Our presentation, Women in Project Management: Breaking the Glass Ceiling, focused on the roadblocks women may face and strategies to overcome them.

These strategies are based on studies and research. We are lucky because we work in environments that help us move forward, and yet, many things need to be improved. Each of us can become a better ally to women project leaders from mentoring to advocating.

During our presentation, we received a lot of great questions that we didn’t get a chance to cover, and my responses are below.

Question: In my country, 50% of the PMs in companies are women and they are treated with the same respect as men. Why were these more positive things not mentioned?

Answer: We could not cover all world regions, so we gave the example of Europe. It’s certainly the case that there could be situations with higher percentages than we discussed and others with lower percentages. Yasmina has worked with more women project leaders in Africa and Asia than in Europe, and Laura has worked with women project leaders in Europe and outside Europe.

With regard to respect: we work in male-dominated environments that foster gender balanced roles, and we are treated with the same respect as men, even if, as women project leaders, we are in the minority. Being in the minority does not mean we are not treated with respect.

Q: Don’t you think that dwelling on negative experiences and challenging situations encourages a ‘victim mentality’ among women?

A: From our point of view, sharing our experiences and challenges as women project leaders does not portray women as victims. We both enjoy being women project leaders. But talking about our challenges is a way to share solutions and strategies and to encourage other women by saying: ‘You may face challenges, but you can overcome them.’

This kind of discussion may bring added value to women who are facing certain situations for the first time, so that they will be aware that they are not the only ones in this situation and that it’s possible to find solutions.

Q: Do you think that, to be successful as a woman project leader, you should behave like a man?

A: We don’t fully agree with this. We don’t need to pretend we are something we’re not when we enter the workplace. Laura’s view is that we need to change the culture so that women's behavior and way of working are accepted in the same way as men's. If we change our behavior to simulate that of men, we may lose our authenticity.

Yasmina’s view is that we each have our own personality, and we need to develop work environments where we can express ourselves fully.

We had a great time presenting, and the full presentation will be on demand through 30 January 2026. Visit the Global Summit Series Europe 2025 site for more details.