Young women are even more ambitious and place a higher premium on working in an equitable, supportive, and inclusive workplace. If companies don’t take action, they risk losing not only their current women leaders but also the next generation of women leaders. And finally, it’s increasingly important to women leaders that they work for companies that prioritize flexibility, employee well-being, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). They’re doing more to support employee well-being and foster inclusion, but this critical work is spreading them thin and going mostly unrewarded. They’re more likely to experience belittling microaggressions, such as having their judgment questioned or being mistaken for someone more junior. Women leaders are just as ambitious as men, but at many companies, they face headwinds that signal it will be harder to advance. The reasons women leaders are stepping away from their companies are telling. And all of these dynamics are even more pronounced for women of color.

Now, companies are struggling to hold onto the relatively few women leaders they have. For years, fewer women have risen through the ranks because of the “broken rung” at the first step up to management. Women are already significantly underrepresented in leadership.

That could have serious implications for companies. Women leaders are switching jobs at the highest rates we’ve ever seen-and at higher rates than men in leadership. This research revealed that we’re amid a “Great Breakup.” Women are demanding more from work, and they’re leaving their companies in unprecedented numbers to get it. This article is a collaborative effort by Alexis Krivkovich, Wei Wei Liu, Hilary Nguyen, Ishanaa Rambachan, Nicole Robinson, Monne Williams, and Lareina Yee.

One Last Drop by Nicole Field