Top 10 Myths About Women in Leadership —
and the Facts That Kill Them
MYTH 1: “There aren’t enough qualified women in the pipeline.”
FACT: There is no pipeline problem. There is a promotion and recognition problem. Women enter the workforce at equal or higher rates than men — but are promoted significantly less at every stage.
SOURCE: McKinsey “Women in the Workplace 2023”; Catalyst (2022)..
MYTH 2: “We hire based on merit — not gender.”
FACT: When identical CVs are evaluated, men are rated higher, offered more money, and seen as more “leadership material”.
SOURCE: Yale “Science Faculty Gender Bias Study” (Moss-Racusin et al., 2012); Harvard Project Implicit (2018).
MYTH 3: “Women simply don’t want top leadership roles.”
FACT: Women aspire to leadership at equal rates. What they lack is access, sponsorship, and being asked.
SOURCE: LinkedIn Gender Gap Insights Report (2023); LeanIn.Org Pipeline Analysis
MYTH 4: “You need C-suite experience to join a board.”
FACT: The majority of SME boards globally do not include C-suite profiles. The requirement is artificially inflated — and disproportionately excludes women.
SOURCE: OECD SME Governance Report (2020); European Commission Board Diversity Index.
MYTH 5: “Diversity is nice to have — competence is what matters.”
FACT: Diverse leadership teams outperform homogeneous ones in profitability, innovation, risk management, and decision quality.
SOURCE: McKinsey “Diversity Wins” (2020); BCG “How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation”.
MYTH 6: “Women are too emotional for top leadership.”
FACT: The most effective leadership style in modern organizations is transformational leadership — where women statistically outperform men.
SOURCE: Zenger & Folkman Leadership Study (over 7,000 leaders, 2020).
MYTH 7: “We’re making progress — change just takes time.”
FACT: At the current pace, gender parity in leadership will take 130 years globally.
SOURCE: World Economic Forum “Global Gender Gap Report 2023”.
MYTH 8: “Women leave the workforce because of motherhood.”
FACT: The primary reason women leave leadership tracks is toxic culture, not children.
SOURCE: Harvard Business Review “Why Women Leave Leadership” (HBR, 2021).line.”
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MYTH 9: “Quotas lower the quality of leaders.”
FACT: Countries with gender quotas (e.g. Norway) have seen increased competence levels, more professionalism, and stronger governance — not the opposite.
SOURCE: OECD Norway Corporate Governance Review (2019); University of Chicago Study on Board Quotas.
MYTH 10: “We tried — but there just weren’t any women in the final pool.”
FACT: When final shortlists lack women, the issue is recruitment strategy, criteria bias, or informal networks — not talent availability.
SOURCE: Harvard Kennedy School “Fixing the Broken Rung” (2022); Korn Ferry Board Diversity Research.