CBD Resource : Women in Marketing: We Unlocked These 5 Courses to Help Accelerate Your Professional Growth

Editor's Note: Enjoy this special encore post, which was one of readers' favorites so far in 2021. It was originally published on March 8.

For the past few years, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has put together an annual diversity report for the advertising and marketing industry.

The 2020 report shows that though women, overall, continue to make great strides in achieving parity in senior leadership — 52% of CMOs are now women — there remains significant work to do when it comes to attaining racial equity. For the first time last year, the ANA’s report provided intersectionality data — the overlap of gender and ethnicity — and found that female CMOs and equivalents are overwhelmingly White. According to the survey, of female CMOs, 88% are White, 5% are Asian, 4% are Black, and 3% are Latina.

Clearly, there are talented marketers who are women of color. Why aren’t they reaching the highest levels of leadership positions at the same rate?

The answers are complex and varied, but here on International Women’s Day, it feels like a problem worthy of our collective attention. Navigating gender dynamics, subconscious biases, and institutional racism is a tall task. We may not be able to solve it immediately, but today we’re making available a selection of LinkedIn Learning courses that directly focus on empowering all women in the workplace.

5 Free Professional Courses to Help Women Advance in B2B Marketing

For the next two weeks (through March 21st) each of these courses is freely accessible for all LinkedIn members.

1. Leadership Strategies for Women

Instructors: Carolyn Goerner and Daisy Lovelace

Women face an assortment of unique obstacles and pitfalls in the quest to advance their marketing careers. In this course, Daisy and Carolyn tackle challenges for women leaders such as gender bias, communication barriers, and imposter syndrome, while showcasing the blueprint for a culture of “inclusive excellence.”

2. Planning Your Family Leave and Return

Instructors: Kelley Biskupiak and Susan Rietano Davey

Kelley and Susan are co-founders of Prepare to Launch U, a company that focuses specifically on guiding women through work-life transitions. Family leave, due to childbirth or otherwise, can be challenging to navigate for busy and ambitious marketing pros. As four-time moms and expert planners, these instructors offer powerful advice and insight around rights and benefits, work coverage plans, prioritizing life demands, and more.

3. Proven Success Strategies for Women at Work

Instructors: Elizabeth Robillard and Debbie Kolb

In addition to the advancement hurdles highlighted in the first course, women tend to face a number of frustrating challenges in their day-to-day work. Among them: being interrupted in meetings, having their ideas stolen, or having to do 'invisible work' for no credit. Reputed business consultants Elizabeth and Debbie offer guidance for women to overcome and dismantle these beacons of inequality, with proven tips for getting the job, pay, and credit you deserve.

4. Own It: The Power of Women at Work

Instructor: Sallie Krawcheck

Drawing from Sallie’s book of the same name, Own It takes a strongly feminist stance in encouraging women to take control and shatter glass ceilings. The Ellevest CEO doesn’t just argue in favor of women having a seat at the table, but at the head of the table. She zeroes in on the unique traits that make women especially valuable assets on the marketing team and beyond, while providing pointers for networking, negotiating, and eliciting useful feedback.

5. Becoming a Male Ally at Work

Instructor: Emilie Aries

Women can’t do it alone. In order to conquer the complex and deeply ingrained gender advancement gap in the marketing profession, men need to step up and play a key role as advocates and allies. In this course, Emilie shares clear actions that male marketers can take to help. Viewers will learn how to challenge problematic stereotypes, amplify female voices, and more.

It’s Time for Women Take the Lead

The biases and barriers holding back women from their fair share of marketing leadership positions are sturdily entrenched, but not unbreakable. We hope that the courses above can play a role in helping your organization make strides toward greater opportunity and equality for all women marketers this year.

For more instructional content to fuel your professional development, peruse all that LinkedIn Learning has to offer.