What Women Want @ Work
Executive Summary
Research conducted by Cross-Tab Global Study by
©2013 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Executive Summary
 LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, undertook a global
research study to explore the key challenges and opportunities facing
professional women around the globe in support of International
Women’s Day on March 8, 2013.
 Some interesting global trends emerged:
– Women’s definition of professional success has changed in the last 5-10 years
– Work-life balance is now more highly valued than salary and position
– Women are concerned about a lack of investment in their ‘professional
development’ and ‘lack of a clear career path’
 There remains a great deal of confidence and optimism amongst
women worldwide about their careers and future opportunities – with
the vast majority believing they can ‘have it all’.
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Career Success Thus Far
77% of women worldwide consider their careers to be a success
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Career Success Thus Far
Significantly more women from India (69%) consider their career to be
entirely successful while only 7% of women in Italy consider their
career to be entirely successful
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Success At Work – Now vs 5-10 Years Ago
Work & Life Balance
63% say that success now is
finding the right balance
between work & personal life
only 39% saw this as success
39% 5 or 10 years ago
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Success At Work – Now vs 5-10 Years Ago
High Salary
56% said earning a high salary
meant success 5 or 10 years
ago
45% only 45% see it as success
now
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Success At Work – Now vs 5-10 Years Ago
 58% in Singapore associate  78% in Sweden equate
success now with earning a success now with having an
higher salary interesting job
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Appearance and Its Impact
49% say they are aware that their physical
appearance makes an impression
but it has not had a major impact on their career
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Appearance and Its Impact
Significantly more women from Germany (26%), US (21%), Canada (18%)
and Singapore (20%) believe that physical appearance makes an impression
and they maintain it has had a major impact on their respective careers
46% of women from Sweden consider appearance to be irrelevant to career
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Career Challenges
51% 47% 44% 44% 33%
lack of clear lack of inequality juggling lack of
career path investment in pay family life mentor or
in professional role model
development
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Career Challenges
 Significantly more women in Germany
(45%) and Spain (39%) consider the
existence of a glass ceiling to be a
major career challenge
 Considerable number of women from
India (35%) have been a victim of
sexism in the workplace
 62% women in Brazil consider lack of
investment in professional
development to be a major challenge
 Women in Sweden (67%), Brazil
(65%) and Netherlands (61%) suffer
most from lack of a clear career path
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State of Mind for Mums
22%
Women who they love their
children and their career
53% equally
Women who love their
25% children but they could never
be a stay-at-home mom
Women who love their job but
if they had their choice, they
would be a stay-at-home mom
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State of Mind for Mums
Significantly more women from India (43%) maintain that even though they love
their children, they never could be a stay at home mom
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State of Mind for Mums
Significantly more women from Canada (33%) say that, even though they love
their job, they would prefer to be a stay at home mom
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State of Mind for Mums
65% of working mothers said that to achieve a healthy work-life balance
they would like greater flexibility within the workplace
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For the Next Generation of Women
80% 70%
believe that a flexible work saw a greater representation of
environment is the most women at senior levels as being
important factor in determining vital for the next generation
the success of the next
generation of professional
women
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For the Next Generation of Women
In Brazil, 90% of women see
a flexible work environment
as the most important factor,
while 79% of women in the US
view a greater representation
of women at senior levels as
success for the next
generation
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Having It All
74% 43%
believe you can have it all: women say that they are
fulfilling career, relationship career-focused, but plan to
and children slow down their career when
they have children
(67% of those are over the age
of 35)
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Having It All
 Significantly more  43% respondents from Italy
respondents from India (93%) consider it to be an impossible
believe it’s possible to have it pursuit
all
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Having It All
No intention of slowing
Slow down their career
down their career after
as soon as they have kids
having children
Respondents in Singapore (63%) and India (60%) plan to slow down their career as soon as
they have children while respondents from US (69%), Sweden (68%), Brazil (68%) have no
intention of slowing down their career after having children
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How Working Women Can Leverage LinkedIn
1. Get career inspiration
 Check out the LinkedIn profiles of professional women you admire to see
the steps they took in their career to be successful.
2. Reach out to women mentors
 Join LinkedIn Groups for professional women in your industry or region.
3. Ask, and you shall receive
 Connect with other women on LinkedIn via your own network and utilise
LinkedIn Groups to get advice on issues you’re facing from flexibility to
professional development.
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Research Methodology
 In January 2013, LinkedIn partnered with Cross-Tab to survey more than
5,300 working women across 13 countries in celebration and support of
International Women’s Day on March 8th.
 Over 400 respondents between the ages of 18-65 were surveyed in each
market to better understand the challenges that women face in their
careers, how women have viewed success in the past and what success
means now, if professional women worldwide believe they can balance
work and family and how online networks can help them with their careers.
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