ABSTRACT
We can tell women to lower their standards around house-work and child rearing. We can give them negotiating tools and training so that they can advocate for more support at home and higher wages at work. But unless and until organizations are willing to take a hard look at how they can embrace working women as a vital and vibrant part of the workforce, we risk losing an incredible talent base, and the brain drain Holli described will continue. And if it continues, we can expect to see the same results we’ve seen to date. As we’ve noted, there is an overwhelming body of evidence supporting the fact that women at work, and in leadership roles, yield positive results for families, businesses, the economy, and society. We can ignore that data or we can make some signifi cant shifts in the way we work in order to reap the benefi ts. But we need to move forward, not backward.
