By: Dr. Stephanie Diana Eubank

A recent Good Morning America segment sparked debate about whether women are becoming less ambitious and less interested in promotion. The broader data paints a more complex picture: women remain deeply committed to their careers, but declining corporate support—especially amid Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) rollbacks—has made advancement harder and less appealing. The 2025 Lean In/McKinsey Women in the Workplace report finds, for the first time, an ambition gap in the desire for promotion (80% of women vs. 86% of men), a shift correlated with reduced sponsorship, stretch opportunities, and scaled-back programs that historically helped women advance. (USA TODAY; McKinsey; CNBC).

What the Data Actually Shows About Ambition

Coverage of women’s ambition often oversimplifies the issue. Lean In/McKinsey’s 2025 report identifies a new gap in promotion desire (80% of women vs. 86% of men), with the largest deltas at entry and senior levels; critically, the gap disappears when women receive equal sponsorship and support. Journalistic summaries emphasize that companies are rolling back commitments to women’s advancement, and that lowered support is linked to lowered appetite for promotion rather than intrinsic ambition differences (McKinsey; CNBC; Inc.). At the same time, other reporting cautions against blaming women, arguing the real story is a support gap—care, sponsorship, visibility, flexibility, and safety—rather than ambition itself (USA TODAY).

DEI Rollbacks and the Leadership Pipeline

Since 2023–2025, multiple outlets have documented corporate pullbacks on DEI initiatives, from scaling back sponsorships to reducing remote and hybrid options that disproportionately benefit caregivers. Analyses and surveys describe declining corporate prioritization of women’s advancement and the chilling effect of anti-DEI pressures, with women—especially women of color—losing ground in early promotions (the broken rung) and access to career development (USA TODAY 2024; POLITICO 2024; HR Dive 2025; Fast Company 2025; McKinsey 2024, 2025).

Remote Work’s Hidden Penalty

Remote flexibility has enabled many women to remain in the workforce—but promotion and sponsorship data show a persistent penalty for remote women compared to remote men. Reports summarizing the 2025 Lean In/McKinsey study note lower promotion rates and sponsorship for women who work mostly remotely, even as men’s outcomes are relatively stable across work location. Combined with reduced flexible-work offerings, this creates a double burden that can deter pursuit of advancement (Allwork.Space; Fast Company).

Why the Poll Misses a Structural Reality: Promotion Frequently Requires Job Hopping

Many companies still do not reliably promote from within. Analyses of LinkedIn profiles and employer data show internal promotions remain rare for large shares of workers, with most employees leaving before promotion or changing employers to progress. HR Dive’s synthesis finds only 17% of workers were promoted by their current company over the last five years; Fortune reports 75% exit before ever being promoted. Even when internal mobility is rising, it skews toward mid-level and above, not entry-level staff (HR Dive 2024; Fortune 2025; HR Dive 2024).

Historically, job switching delivered outsized pay gains; however, 2025 data show the wage premium for job switchers has narrowed—at times even favoring job stayers—reflecting a cooler labor market (Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker; CNBC; Business Insider; Axios). This means the calculus has shifted: some workers still need to job hop to gain title and scope, but pay increases may be smaller than in 2022–2023. In short: staying at one firm may stall promotions, while switching may not deliver the raises it used to (Atlanta Fed; CNBC; Business Insider; Statista; Entrepreneur).

About the Good Morning America Segment

The Good Morning America clip catalyzed discussion by spotlighting polling about women’s ambition and promotion interest. Media coverage and follow-on analysis point to a growing narrative that women are ‘leaning out’; yet broader evidence attributes changes in promotion appetite to reduced support and increasing penalties associated with remote work, rather than a wholesale decline in ambition (GMA YouTube; USA TODAY; Observer).

What Leaders Should Do Now

1. Restore sponsorship and stretch opportunities. Make sponsorship an explicit responsibility for managers; promotion appetite rebounds when support is equitable (McKinsey; CNBC).
2. Standardize promotion criteria and make pathways transparent. Clear criteria reduce bias and self-selection out of roles among qualified women (Harvard Business Review; HBS Working Knowledge).
3. Design equitable hybrid/remote practices. Ensure remote women have access to high-visibility projects, leadership development, and fair performance evaluations (Fast Company; Allwork.Space; McKinsey 2025).
4. Invest in internal mobility across all levels. Build career marketplaces, advertise roles internally, and remove barriers that make it easier to find jobs outside than inside (HR Dive 2024; LinkedIn resources).
5. Respect time and cognitive load. Use asynchronous updates and concise written briefs; remember the classic truth: some meetings really should have been an email. This especially matters for remote workers balancing caregiving and for neurodivergent employees for whom excessive synchronous demands can be exclusionary (McKinsey; Lean In; leadership best practices).

Conclusion

Women’s ambition is not vanishing; opportunity structures are. As companies phase out DEI and flexible-work support, women—especially women of color and remote workers—see fewer viable paths to leadership. Leaders who recommit to equitable support, transparent internal mobility, and inclusive hybrid practices can close the promotion gap without blaming ambition.

References

ABC News. (2025). Advancement for women in the workplace is slowing, survey finds | Morning in America [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo6YEF_Wf5Q

Guynn, J. (2025, December 11). Are women less ambitious than men? The internet leans in on ‘ambition gap’. USA TODAY.

Liu, J. (2025, December 9). There’s a growing ambition gap between men and women at work. CNBC Make It.

McKinsey & Company; LeanIn.Org. (2025, December 9). Women in the Workplace 2025.

McKinsey & Company; LeanIn.Org. (2024, September 17). Women in the Workplace 2024.

Crumley, B. (2025, December 10). McKinsey says a decade of women’s workplace progress halted in 2025. Inc.

Observer Staff. (2025, December 11). Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In finds women are leaning out in the workplace. Observer.

Crist, C. (2025, April 24). DEI rollbacks are affecting women’s behavior at work and career plans. HR Dive.

Guynn, J. (2024, September 17). Women are losing ground amid DEI attacks, LeanIn says. USA TODAY.

Cordover, E. (2024, December 6). What the end of DEI means for women. POLITICO.

Snelling, G. (2025, December 10). Women are more likely to be penalized for working remotely. Fast Company.

Allwork.Space News Team. (2025, December 9). Women working remotely face a hidden penalty. Allwork.Space.

Christ, G. (2024, December 3). Job hopping, not promotion, drives career growth. HR Dive.

Berger, C. (2025, January 22). 75% of employees leave before ever being promoted. Fortune.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. (2025). Wage Growth Tracker.

Iacurci, G. (2025, August 22). Wage growth now favors job stayers over job switchers. CNBC.

Spirlet, T., & Deng, J. (2025, March 29). Switching jobs used to mean higher pay raises. Business Insider.

Peck, E. (2025, August 26). Why job hopping might no longer pay. Axios.

Simmons, R., & Kortas, A. (2024, February 8). It’s time to redefine our gendered idea of ambition. Harvard Business Review.

Baskin, K. (2024, February 13). Breaking through the self-doubt that keeps talented women from leading. HBS Working Knowledge.

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