Previously published on McKinsey.com >>

Women are well represented in the country’s workforce but are relatively scarce at the top—and that won’t change anytime soon given current promotion trends. Yet companies can act to turn the tide.

Over the years, a changing corporate world has become more open for women, but the glass ceiling remains very much in place. This invisible barrier, which hinders women from rising to leadership positions, is just one of the identified constraints on women’s professional progress. The other is the leaky pipeline, or the increasing scarcity of women as you go up the corporate hierarchy.