Before PWDA's leadership program began, 82% of surveyed women reported barriers to leadership
People with Disability Australia says 82% of surveyed women in its 107-woman leadership program reported barriers before joining. The report urges employers to remove them, but the percentages are participants' own survey answers.
The Scientist · Science desk
Key figures from PWDA's report: more than 60% of surveyed participants reported low confidence in progressing into leadership roles before participating; 82% reported barriers to leadership opportunities; the project reached 107 women with disability.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low confidence in moving into leadership, more than | 60% surveyed | 4 | |
| Reported barriers | 82% surveyed | 3 | |
| Women reached | 107 women | 2 |
What happened
- More than 60% of surveyed participants also reported low confidence in progressing into leadership roles before taking part.
- The barriers they named were inaccessible workplace practices, discrimination, limited career development and cultures that fail to recognize their leadership potential.
- Of post-program survey respondents, 71% named mentoring as the most valuable part of the program.
Why it matters
- What doesn't add up contradiction The program's best-rated element works on the individual, and the report finds that individual development alone cannot overcome the structural barriers it documents.
- What it limits constraint No employer can treat 82% as a benchmark for its own staff: the survey group is of unstated size and limited to program participants.
- What it sets up precedent The recommendation for flexible, participant-centered evaluation suggests the next round of evidence will again rest largely on what participants report, and we'd expect the same limits.
The 107 is the number of women the project reached. The percentages come from survey respondents. Of the 107, 46 were mentors and 46 were mentees [2], which accounts for 92 [14] and leaves 15 whom the published account does not place in either role [15]. The 82% is a share of "surveyed participants" [3]. The 71% is a share of "post-program survey respondents" [7]. The article does not say how many women answered either survey or whether any comparison group existed.
Some numbers are sturdier than others. The 82% and the 60% describe the women's situation before the program, as the women themselves reported it [3][4]. As descriptions they hold up without a control group, though they are only as representative as the unstated group of respondents.
The confidence gain afterwards is a direction: participants reported greater confidence, stronger professional connections and clearer career goals [6]. There is no measure of its size, or of how much of that change the program produced, as against time passing or the other elements of the program.
The 71% needs the same care. It ranks the parts of the program against one another by what participants valued [7].
Dr. Michelle Hyde, a co-author of the final report, placed the barriers on the employer side. "What became clear was that the barriers to progression were often embedded in workplace cultures, practices and expectations," she said [9]. Summah McKinnon, the project manager, who is herself a woman with disability, put it from the inside [11]. "Women with disability have the skills, experience and ambition to lead, but too often we're expected to navigate workplaces and systems that weren't designed with us in mind," McKinnon said [10].
In our view the descriptive claim is well supported by what participants said: barriers were common, and the women locate them in workplaces. The call on employers follows from that testimony. The first of the six recommendations is organizational commitment and accountability [12].
What to watch
- The final report's respondent counts for each survey, and any before-and-after confidence figures.
- Whether participating employers publish changes to how they recruit, support and promote women with disability, with outcomes.
- Whether PWDA's next program adds a comparison group or keeps the participant-centered evaluation it recommends.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption15
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives60
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
A new report from People with Disability Australia (PWDA) says employers must do more to remove the barriers preventing women with disability from progressing into leadership.
- [2]
The national project, which ran from January 2023 to July 2026, reached 107 women with disability, including 46 mentors and 46 mentees.
- [3]
Before participating, 82% of surveyed participants reported experiencing barriers to leadership opportunities.
- [4]
More than 60% of surveyed participants reported low confidence in progressing into leadership roles before participating.
- [5]
The reported barriers included inaccessible workplace practices, discrimination, limited opportunities for career development and workplace cultures that fail to recognize the skills and leadership potential of women with disability.
- [6]
Through mentoring, disability-led education and professional networking, participants reported greater confidence in their leadership abilities, stronger professional connections and clearer career goals.
- [7]
71% of post-program survey respondents identified mentoring as the most valuable part of their experience.
- [8]
The report found that individual leadership development alone cannot overcome the structural and organizational barriers women with disability across Australia continue to face.
- [9]
Dr. Michelle Hyde, co-author of the final report, said: "What became clear was that the barriers to progression were often embedded in workplace cultures, practices and expectations."
- [10]
McKinnon said: "Women with disability have the skills, experience and ambition to lead, but too often we're expected to navigate workplaces and systems that weren't designed with us in mind."
- [11]
Summah McKinnon is PWDA's Advancing Women with Disability in the Workplace project manager and is herself a woman with disability.
- [12]
The first of the report's six recommendations is to strengthen organizational commitment and accountability to create more accessible and inclusive workplaces.
- [13]
One of the report's six recommendations is to adopt flexible, participant-centered evaluation methods to better understand what works and improve future programs.
- [14]
The 46 mentors and 46 mentees together account for 92 participants.
- [15]
15 of the 107 women are not described as either mentors or mentees.
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Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- phys.orgSix lessons to improve leadership opportunities for women with disability
1 article · October 15, 2026
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