Losing female leaders

COVID-19 has turned workplaces upside down. Many employees are struggling to do their jobs now that the boundaries between work and home have blurred. The pandemic has intensified challenges that women already faced.

Working mothers have always worked a ‘double shift’ - a full day of work, followed by childcare and house work.  

As a result of these dynamics, one in four women in corporate America is considering leaving or stepping back. Companies risk losing women in leadership unwinding years of painstaking progress toward gender diversity. 

If companies invest in building more flexible and empathetic workplaces with the right support, they can retain the employees most affected by today’s crisis and nurture a culture in which women have equal opportunity to achieve their potential over the long term.  

Women in the Workplace is the largest study on working women in corporate America - based on data from 317 companies employing more than 12 million people. The report looks at the dynamics which are driving mothers, senior-level women and Black women to consider stepping back in their careers or leaving the workplace. 

It also includes recommended strategies for addressing the challenges female leaders are facing, taking an intersectional approach to diversity.