Organizations have to make senior management positions less “male”

Women's career aspirations are affected by their perceived congruence with senior management positions and by their perceived opportunity to reach senior management, as a US study revealed. Organizations should therefore assure that senior management roles are not predominantly associated with masculine characteristics and should evaluate their promotion systems to eliminate such psychological barriers to women's advancement into senior management.

Sharabi, M. (2015). Life domain preferences among women and men in Israel: The effects of socio-economic variables. International Labour Review, 154. 519–536.

Who receives the most promotions? Recommendations from career research

There exist several factors that affect the number of received promotions. However, the largest impact is due to hours worked, social capital, career sponsorship, training opportunities, extraversion, and proactivity, according to a meta-analysis about predictors of career success. To receive a promotion you should therefore be engaged and motivated for your work, build up powerful networks of supporters, develop your skills, and be outgoing, anticipatory, and self-initiated.

Personnel Psychology