Women in tech are over mentored and under sponsored: Here's what needs to change

International Women's Day often sparks conversations about progress in technology leadership. Mentorship programs are frequently highlighted as proof that change is happening. Mentorship matters, but it is only part of the solution.

Research from Catalyst draws a clear distinction: mentors provide guidance and feedback, while sponsors are senior leaders who use their influence to advocate for someone's advancement. Yet women are far less likely than men to have sponsors backing them at senior levels.

As a former Wall Street technology executive who now advises women leaders inside enterprise organizations, I have seen this play out in real time. Mentorship builds capability and confidence. Sponsorship opens doors and accelerates careers. Without both, advancement slows.

The case: Prepared but not promoted

One of my clients, a senior leader inside a Mag 7 organization, came to me after returning from maternity leave with her second child. She had a new manager who offered little guidance and no meaningful advocacy for her advancement. She attended one of my workshops, booked a coaching call, and began working with me. Initially, she funded the coaching herself. After some time, her company began reimbursing the investment based on the measurable growth in her leadership performance.

Our early work focused on strengthening her relationship with her manager and elevating her executive presence. She built and scaled her team, refined her strategic communication, and increased her visibility with senior leadership. Once her credibility was firmly established, we shifted to a more deliberate approach: building a sponsorship network across the organization.

It took over a year before senior leaders were actively advocating for her in promotion discussions. Five years after we began working together, she earned the role she had long been ready to step into. While the mentorship strengthened her capability and confidence, the sponsorship accelerated her advancement. It's important to note that she had to seek mentorship outside the organization to build the internal advocacy needed to move forward. Her experience is not unusual. It reflects a systemic pattern.

The hidden talent problem

Here is the question more leaders should be asking:

Are you really taking advantage of the hidden talent inside your organization?

Most companies believe they are. They invest in mentorship circles, development programs, and leadership workshops. They work toward building skills, confidence, and community. But they do not focus on changing who is discussed in succession planning meetings.

Sponsorship operates differently. It requires senior leaders to spend political capital: someone must say, "She is ready," in rooms where she is not present. Sponsorship links real advocacy to real opportunity, not just encouragement to keep working on yourself.

Without sponsorship, high-performing women often spend years refining their skills while waiting for visibility to catch up. The result is stalled advancement and avoidable attrition. This is more than a gender gap; it is a loss of competitive advantage.

What enterprise leaders must do differently

If organizations are serious about measurable progress, sponsorship must move from informal favor to formal leadership expectation.

That means:

• Holding executives accountable for sponsoring high-potential talent
• Tracking who receives stretch assignments and executive visibility
• Ensuring women are included in succession conversations early
• Rewarding leaders who actively advocate for advancement

Mentorship prepares talent, and sponsorship promotes it, together forming the foundation of a leadership pipeline that produces exceptional results. International Women's Day often centers on inspiration, but meaningful advancement requires more than celebration. It requires structural change. Women in tech do not need more advice; they need more advocates. 

As Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox and the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, often said, you cannot expect people to take risks on you without sponsors willing to advocate for you. Leadership advancement requires someone in the room who is prepared to say your name when it matters.

The organizations that win will be the ones that actively promote their strongest talent, not just develop it.