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Women In Project Management (Infographic)

Science says that project management, leadership, and contemporary workplace all are a good fit for women. And although, there are still some obstacles to overcome, you might be surprised by some of the facts we found. For example, do you know what proportion of project managers are women? We do.

Plus, we found out a lot more about the way the project management field is learning to embrace women. We put it all together in an infographic, so read on to find out!

Male Vs. Female Stereotypes

Whether we want to believe it or not, men and women have always been viewed as two different sets of people. And of course, there are stereotypes that go with the sets. Women are supposed to like pink, and men blue. Women are supposed to take care of the children, men are supposed to bring home the bacon. Women are supposed to be emotional, men should never shed a tear.

The list goes on. Yet, if we look past the stereotypes, we see that – in a good way – the world is a lot messier than that. We have women who want to climb the corporate ladder. We have the stay-at-home dads.

We have women in project management that want to change the fact that it’s still an area that’s dominated by men. Let’s have a look at the brilliant women (or the statistics about them) in project management.

Women in Project Management Infographic

Infographic on women in project management

What Proportion of Project Managers are Women?

According to PMI’s 2008 Membership Satisfaction Study, the gender breakdown of membership is 70% male and 30% female.

In addition, per the results of PMI’s 2008 Pulse of the Professional Survey, 32% of Project Management Professionals (PMPs®) are female and 68% male.

That means that there are more than two times more men in project management than women.

What Kind of Leaders are Women PMPs?

Although it was actually found that men and women generally tend to lead in the same way, women are more likely to be “transformational” leaders, serving as role models, helping employees develop their skills, and motivating them to be dedicated and creative.

What Makes Women Better at PM?

Since multiple studies have found that women are better at assessing risk and therefore can guide their actions accordingly, women tend to be better and scheduling resources and budgeting projects. That sounds like a pretty good reason to hire more women, right?

Read On: Find a tool to complement that natural talent. We put together a list of the top 5 resource scheduling tools to help you sort through the chaff and find the best.  Or see how a project management software can assist.

Who Do Women PMs Lead?

According to PMI female project team members are 9.0 times more likely to be assigned to female project managers than are male project team members. The more the merrier, huh.

How Much Do Women PMs Earn Compared to Men?

Although The Institute for Fiscal Studies found that the wage gap between men and women has reduced from 28% in 1996 to 23.1% in 2016.  But there’s still a long way to go.

For now, the wage gap has largely decreased because more women are college graduates now. Research by CMI says that the lack of promotions for women is what’s keeping the gender pay gap going. What’s even worse – even if women get promoted to be senior managers they are less likely to receive bonuses.

Why are Women a Better Fit for PM?

As said before, women are slightly more likely to be “transformational” leaders, serving as role models. In addition, if we talk about workspaces, researchers have found that women reported the lowest stress levels in open-plan offices. With men strongly preferring private offices.

However, 36% of men say they get most of their work done remotely, compared with just 23% of women. Numbers that have only been exacerbated by the current COVID pandemic. With the uneven workloads families tend to put on female remote workers.

Read On: There’s challenges for everyone working remotely right now. So check out some resources that can help. We out together some work from home essentials. Or a guide to overcoming the most common remote work obstacles. Or check out a few remote and hybrid work tools that will help get work done.

What’s the Biggest Obstacle for Women?

According to Pew Research Centre four-in-ten Americans do not believe that a woman’s familial responsibilities stand in the way of them becoming top business executives. But….there is a but.

About a quarter (23%) say this is a major reason and an additional 35% say it is at least a minor reason that more women are not running large businesses.

Since women don’t want to take on over-hours to keep a work-life balance, it’s considered a weakness. And a hindrance to making their way to the top.

However, when it comes to decision-making, quality matters more than the amount of time spent in the office, and over-hours is not something anyone should do to succeed.

How Many Women are at the Top?

APM Market Trends and Salary Survey has shown that only 1% of females work as Company/Board Directors vs 4% of males with women taking on more junior roles.

Conclusions

Changes are being made to the workforce. And now more than ever we see more women making their mark on the project management sphere. But that’s not to say that there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Stay tuned to Ganttic’s blog all month to check out inspiration stories and advice from female PMPs. Or even better, check out some blog posts and articles from women in the field. We will also be promoting these blogs all over social media.

Keep up the good work, ladies. And happy Women’s History Month!

Check out and follow Ganttic’s Twitter and LinkedIn for all the updates this month.

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