Breaking the Leadership Ceiling: Why Women Still Climb Higher for Less

When I led a $100M private equity capital raise, a deal team member compared fundraising to climbing Mt. Everest. She told me that receiving our first term sheet was like reaching “base camp.” And when we closed the deal—one of the largest-ever PE raises led by a Black woman CEO in the U.S.—she sent me a Mt. Everest t-shirt to commemorate the climb.

The analogy stayed with me. Because for women—especially Black women—career advancement often feels like mountaineering without oxygen or a guide.

After that deal closed, research on the Black women who have summited Mt. Everest led me to Sophia Danenberg, the first Black woman to reach the top of the world. She climbed Everest without sponsorship, without a traditional guide, carrying her own gear, and making every critical decision alone.

I didn’t need to read further—I already understood. Because that’s what leadership looks like for so many women.

The Thinner Air at the Top: Higher Expectations, Lower Rewards

The rarefied air atop Mt. Everest makes basic functions like breathing, hearing, and decision-making incredibly difficult. Many women in leadership experience the same conditions—where success comes with increasing isolation, heightened scrutiny, and less recognition.

• Women receive 22% more negative performance feedback than men—even when their results are the same. (Harvard Business Review)

• Women are promoted based on past performance, while men are promoted based on potential. (McKinsey & LeanIn)

• Women leaders face harsher penalties for failure and fewer rewards for success.

Despite these heightened expectations, women—particularly Black women—are still paid less for doing more:

• Full-time female managers earn 71 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. (GAO Report)

• Black women make 64 cents for every dollar earned by white men. (AAUW)

• Even in leadership roles, the pay gap persists—women CEOs earn only 74% of what male CEOs make. (Pew Research)

Women don’t just have to climb higher to earn less—they often must fight for credibility every step of the way.

The Weight of Expectations: Climbing with Extra Gear

Even when women reach the summit of leadership, they often find themselves scrutinized, second-guessed, and unsupported in ways their male counterparts never experience.

• Are we “likable” enough?

• Are we “too ambitious”?

• Are we balancing it all “the right way”?

A Lean In study found that "men are 30% more likely to be promoted to management positions than women—"even when performance levels are identical.

But here’s where the climb gets even steeper: even women sometimes struggle to take direction from other women. A Harvard Business Review study found that while both men and women prefer male bosses, women were more likely to express discomfort with female leadership.

Why? Because we’ve been conditioned to see male leadership as the default and women’s authority as something to be earned.

Even as women rise in leadership, we’re still navigating bias from above, from below, and even from within.

How Companies Can Move Mountains

This isn’t just about fairness—it’s about business results.

• Companies with diverse leadership teams are 35% more profitable. (McKinsey & Co.)

• Women-led companies deliver 63% higher returns on investment. (First Round Capital)

• Organizations with more women in senior roles report stronger innovation, engagement, and retention.

Yet despite these numbers, women—particularly Black women—are still excluded from the rooms where the biggest decisions are made.

So how do we change the air up there?

1. Hire more women. It sounds simple, but the data proves its impact. Women are more likely to hire and promote other women, breaking cycles of underrepresentation and reshaping leadership pipelines. Research shows that companies with diverse leadership—particularly those with strong female decision-makers—cultivate more inclusive environments, driving higher performance, innovation, and profitability (HBR, McKinsey). Prioritizing gender diversity isn’t just about fairness—it’s about building stronger, more competitive organizations.

2. Stop the “likeability tax.” Leadership styles shouldn’t be penalized differently by gender. Studies show women leaders receive more subjective feedback than men, impacting career growth. (Harvard Business Review, Lean In) Holding managers accountable for unbiased performance reviews is critical to ensuring equitable leadership evaluations.

3. Move from mentorship to sponsorship. Women are often over-mentored and under-sponsored. They don’t need more advice—they need active champions who push them for leadership opportunities. Research finds that women with sponsors are more likely to be promoted and given high-visibility projects—yet they are sponsored less frequently than men. (Center for Talent Innovation) Companies should ensure formal sponsorship programs support women’s advancement.

4. Make compensation transparent. The pay gap isn’t just about negotiation—it’s about access to high-growth roles that pay more. Studies show that transparent pay structures reduce wage disparities by up to 40%. (National Bureau of Economic Research)

5. Implement gender-neutral parental leave. If only women take leave, only women get career setbacks. Companies with equal parental leave policies see higher retention rates for women in leadership and a 20% increase in female representation at senior levels. (World Economic Forum, Harvard Kennedy School)

The Final Summit: Women Have Earned the Latitude to Lead at These Altitudes

Sophia Danenberg reflected on her Everest climb by saying, “When I was climbing, I knew the odds were stacked against me. But every step was about perseverance and focus—moving forward, no matter what.”

The same is true for women in leadership. Women have been scaling impossible heights, often with fewer resources and greater resistance. But the challenges of the ascent should not be ours alone.

• Women in leadership don’t need more motivational speeches.

• We don’t need to defend the value of inclusion or equity.

• We don’t need to justify our presence in the room.

We’ve already climbed those mountains – now it’s time to move them. It’s time the world made space for women at the summit—with recognition, respect, and real opportunities to lead.

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This blog was written by Thai Randolph, a visionary CEO and entrepreneur whose leadership is shaping the future of media, entertainment, and technology. Randolph has built her career at the intersection of content and commerce - consistently delivering transformative growth and innovation. Her dual-bottom line approach seamlessly enables corporations to turn cultural influence into lasting economic value and pursue both purpose and profit to consistently deliver results that blend cultural resonance with commercial success. Over the last decade, Thai has served as the go-to expert for athletes, entertainers and celebrity talent to scale their ventures. Her highlights include the following:

• Interim CEO, Board Member & Strategic Advisor, Rock the Bells

• Co-Founder, Former CEO & Board Member, HARTBEAT

• Founding LP, BrainTrust Fund

• Named to Variety and Entrepreneur’s "Women of Impact" and AdAge's "40 Under 40"

• Award-Winning Producer & Podcast Host