Is Leaving Leadership Really a Choice for Women?

Women looking out of a window toward large city view.

Source: Fernanda Latronico/Pexels

In 2018, I started writing this blog series to redefine the women's leadership space. Significantly fewer women than men were being promoted to leadership roles, especially in senior positions, and the leadership development programs available to them were still focusing on applying a one-size-fits-all model or a "fix-her" model to address the disparity.

The renewed wave of DEI efforts across organizations since 2020 offered renewed energy and interest, which seemed to have some impact on hiring and promotion practices that focused on diversity.

Unfortunately, it did not seem to change leadership development programming, and what we have seen is a new wave of disparities. Specifically, in addition to the "broken rung" problem (for the 8th year in a row), we now have a second leadership pipeline problem among women: For every woman promoted into a director role, two leave director roles.

Women are also leaving leadership at faster rates and are more likely to contemplate leaving than men.

This is happening in the context of huge investments companies are making in DEI efforts focusing on increasing the numbers of women in leadership.

It seems that the investments are working for recruitment and promotion in the first leadership role but not necessarily for retention and promotion to additional leadership roles.

The question about why they are leaving is complicated.

Is it a choice or a decision?

As I wrote in my post, "Why Women Leave Leadership and What to Do About It," while the reasons are multi-layered and complicated, women are feeling undervalued, underutilized (for roles commensurate with their expertise and capabilities), overworked, feeling stretched thin, squeezed out, and burned out.

When I read social media posts by women who are leaving, those who have left, or those who are contemplating it, I see much support, enthusiasm, and feelings of empowerment.

But I can't help but feel a bit mixed about it.

We celebrate women's decisions to leave because we support an action to no longer continue enduring these experiences.

But making a decision doesn't always come from choice.

For some women, yes, it is absolutely an actual choice. They are choosing to do something new and different. And they were looking for the right time and reason to move toward that choice.

For others, however, it's a decision to no longer put up with being undervalued, underutilized, overworked, squeezed out, and burned out. They are seeking escape and respite. But had those experiences not been there, they may have stayed to continue pursuing further career advancement.

What do women have to give up that is not an actual choice but rather a compromise?

Is this the first signal that we are moving backward in gender equity, pay gap parity, and/or more limited options or opportunities for high-performing women?

Anecdotally, these are the discussions I am having with my clients. And what I want for them is actual agency and choice.

Where do we go from here?

One trend that could suggest a major business revolution is that women's business ownership is on the rise—women started 49 percent of new businesses in 2021 compared to 28 percent in 2019, and they are starting businesses at almost twice the rate of men.

Their impact could be tremendous:

• Women reinvest up to 90 percent of their income back into their communities.
• In 2018, NAWBO reported that women business owners across the US already employed more than 13 million people and generated $1.9 trillion in sales, which has only risen since then.
• Private tech companies owned by women achieve 35 percent higher ROI.
• According to the World Economic Forum, "Women social entrepreneurs have, time and time again, made a deep impact in their work through a form of impact called "scaling deep"—overhauling unfair and unjust systems, sparking collaborative social movements, and reshaping dominant expectations, norms, and stigmas."
• Women founders are also more likely to "be more collaborative, working closely with other citizen-sector organizations, supporting other women and young people around them, and empowering their own teams."

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Pay disparities remain for women business owners, unfortunately. But the significant shifts in business ownership and their impact might create new companies with more equitable practices.

Alternatively, current organizations can start now to focus on retaining these talented women by creating the equitable practices they seek and expect.

Only time will tell which way the tide will turn, but one thing is clear: Women who choose to lead on their terms are making an impact for themselves and others.