In India, Nigeria, and Kenya, distinct but systemic challenges prevent women from reaching leadership roles at scale. The countries could learn from each other to accelerate progress toward equity.

Since 2015, McKinsey, in partnership with LeanIn.Org, has conducted annual original research on women’s participation in the formal workforce in the United States and Canada through the Women in the Workplace report series. This report extends that pioneering research to new countries—India, Nigeria, and Kenya—for the first time, addressing a major data gap and deepening our understanding of women’s representation in the formal sector in these critical markets.

Our analysis in this report is based on data from 324 organizations, which together employ about 1.4 million people across India, Nigeria, and Kenya. This research revealed that across these countries, women are far from achieving parity in representation and face systemic challenges that prevent them from reaching leadership roles at scale. However, the challenges they face differ across countries, indicating an opportunity for these countries to learn from each other—such as how to attract more women into entry-level positions or how to remove women’s barriers to promotion into management and senior leadership roles.

Read more at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/social-sector/our-insights/women-in-the-workplace-2025-india-nigeria-and-kenya