International Business Machines Corp. helps high-potential women win critical stretch assignments through an intensive leadership program. Other companies, including ChevronCorp. and Xerox Corp. , take flexible approaches to relocation better tailored to the lives of women staffers. Rising technology stars at Intuit Inc. enhance their professional visibility through coaching and introduction to important contacts from powerful executive sponsors.

Increased efforts to move women up the ladder come amid their slow gains at work. The share of women in middle management was unchanged at 33% and rose slightly in C-suite roles to 20%, concludes a new study by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Co.

And while more than half of senior managers want to be a top executive, the study showed, just 39% of female ones think they will achieve their career goal, compared with 44% of men.

The disparity in advancement expectations and achievements reflects deep-rooted attitudes about women as potential leaders, gender experts say. “Women aren’t given a real chance at the fast track,’’ suggests Deborah Gillis, president of Catalyst, which conducts research about women.”