Lean In Canada Research Reveals Professional Women Want Structural Change Not More Confidence Training

Lean In Canada releases Calls to Action for women and organizations ahead of International Women’s Day

TORONTO, March 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In advance of International Women’s Day, Lean In Canada today released five Calls to Action to help women reach their full career potential. Grounded in insights from a comprehensive national study of more than 450 professional women across Canada, the Calls to Action empower women to advocate for what they require and identify systemic changes employers need to make.

“The findings from our research are clear; women are not asking for more motivation or confidence-building programs. They are asking for structures, spaces, and communities that reflect the realities of their lives, including career transitions, identity, and non-linear leadership journeys,” says Juliet Turpin, President of Lean In Canada.

Lean In Canada’s Calls to Action include:

1. Create spaces for career transitions — not only advancement
   Support women through moments of change, uncertainty, and re-entry.

• • Career transitions repeatedly emerged as moments of reduced support and belonging, particularly for women aged 30–44, a stage associated with overlapping career, caregiving, and identity shifts.
    
    

2. Build leadership communities that grow with women over time
   Design spaces that evolve across early, mid, and later career stages.

• • 67% of respondents had been connected to a women-focused leadership initiative for more than two years.
  • Despite this, perceived relevance of leadership programming declined with age and career stage, particularly for mid-career and senior women.
    
    

3. Make identity and intersectionality the anchor — not an add-on 
   Design leadership and community spaces around lived experience from the start.

• • Nearly 60% of respondents identified identity-rooted leadership and community spaces as a priority.
  • Women reported that inclusion language often existed without corresponding changes to structure, facilitation, or accountability, particularly for racialized, Indigenous, disabled, newcomer, and 2SLGBTQIA+ women.
    
    

4. Build clear pathways to community — before, during, and after participation
   Ensure women can enter, stay connected, step back, and re-engage without friction.

• • 48% of respondents had participated in at least one women-focused leadership or community initiative.
  • Disengagement was more often linked to unclear pathways than to lack of interest.
    
    

5. Recognize invisible labour as leadership work
   Name, value, and resource the invisible work that sustains teams and communities.

• • Women consistently described carrying essential relational and coordinating labour that was rarely named or valued (for example, organizing staff events or leading committees).
  • Burnout and disengagement were linked to absorbing this invisible labour alongside formal roles, without recognition or support.
    
    

“Progress requires more than awareness. It requires shared responsibility,” says Turpin. “By providing clear direction on what women are looking for and the actions that need to be taken by Canadian organizations, we are inviting women and organizations alike to move from intention to impact.”

Between late 2024 and early 2025, Lean In Canada undertook a wide-reaching and collaborative research process designed to surface challenges, successes and critical differences in the ways women experience professional life across lines of age, race, disability, leadership status, and community. More than 450 Canadian women, representing a broad cross-section of career stages, sectors, geographies, and lived experiences, including Lean In Canada members and non-members, were engaged in the process through surveys and follow-up interviews. The findings from this process formed the foundation for the 2026 Calls To Action. The full Calls To Action are available at https://leanincanada.com/2026-calls-to-action/.

About Lean In Canada

Inspired by the groundbreaking best-seller by former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In was launched in 2013 to help women achieve their ambitions and companies create equal and inclusive workplaces. Today, Lean In Canada, includes more than 8,500 Canadian professional women who empower each other to build purposeful and fulfilling careers. Lean In Canada collaborates with Lean In City Networks in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa to offer free Circle community groups and resources to women and organizations nationwide. Lean in Canada is grateful for the generous support of Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) enabling us to expand our work to empower more women across Canada. For more information, visit leanincanada.com or email info@leanincanada.com.

Media Contact:

Katherine Clark
Beacon Strategic Communications
katherine@beaconcommunications.ca 
416-453-3288

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