In the previous meetup of “The Power Posse” network, I was fortunate to hear from a group of diverse women leaders who shed light on the unique career challenges faced by women during the course of their career journeys as they navigate through the different stages of personal and professional lives. In this Women’s month special issue I talk about
Reasons why women quit work force
Challenges faced when trying to re-enter the workforce
Ways in which organisations provide the much needed solutions
Reach out to me if you will like to share your own career journey with the network and join a supportive community of fellow women
Welcome to the second issue of The Power Posse newsletter!
Recently, I came across a seminal book on the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility, titled “Social Responsibilities of Businessman” published in the year 1953. Back in the day there were hardly any women in business hence the responsibilities of man could literally be interpreted as that of “men”. Fast forward to 2023, women have made way into almost all areas of professional work and industries, albeit with lower representations in ranks and numbers. Management studies often talk of diversity as a lever to boost performance, innovation, and creativity, but whether or not the diversity programs of the companies lead to real change is still debatable as very often these programs end up being ineffective and namesake.
On this women’s day 2023, we need to acknowledge the deeper issues which need to be addressed by organisations if they want not only to retain but also nurture women talent.
I was looking for more resources to understand the deeper issues and possible strategies for women, beyond the anecdotal references of my women friends and colleagues. In this process, I stumbled upon this very in-depth systematic study, conducted in 2004 (The hidden Brain Drain: Off-Ramps and On-Ramps in women’s careers by Sylvia Ann Hewlett et al. ) by Center for Work-Life Policy within a Manhattan based research organization, that investigated the forces that make women quit or Off-Ramp and what challenges do they face when they wish to re-enter the workforce or On-Ramp.
This study found that there are many ways in which women go off-Ramp in their career but very few options for them to On-ramp in the same capacity as before. The researchers interviewed close to 2500 highly qualified women on various aspects of their career journeys. They found that exiting the workforce could be triggered by a plethora of reasons including family responsibilities, which could be childcare, or eldercare related. Others failed to find a satisfying career, these were mainly women who worked in specific industries which had lower proportion of women employees. The study cited a really interesting metaphor of a “scenic route” which includes optionally reducing the responsibilities at work by opting for a reduced workload, taking flexible work arrangements at the cost of a promotion or a reduced compensation.
Interestingly, in the sample interviewed more than 90% of the women who had quit wanted to re-enter the work force but only 40% ended up getting back their full-time jobs. In this non-linear journey of On-Ramps and Off-Ramps, women often downsized their ambitions to a large extent and only a handful focused on getting into a “powerful position” when they re-joined. Those who wanted to come back asked corporations to provide more ways for them to on-ramp by providing re-training programs and offering options to manage work along with the other aspects of their busy lives.
Surely there is evidence to believe that the relevance of the above findings still holds in 2023. If anything, the urgency of the ask to roll out more programs that enable women to On-Ramp back into fulfilling careers has rather increased due to the growing number of educated women in the business world. I started by quoting a book on Corporate Social Responsibility (happened to be studying the topic in detail for my research at the moment), that establishes an extended role of companies beyond the main objective of profit-making. If it helps, companies could classify nurturing diverse talent as a CSR initiative, even though there is enough scientific evidence to show the positive impact of diverse talent on financial performance. On this International Women’ day, I encourage business leaders to review their talent initiatives and revise them to be more inclusive for women. For my women colleagues, a shout out to reach out to the support networks that provide you the tools and resources to navigate the long On-Ramps and Off-Ramps without getting off the course on journey to achieve your dreams and aspirations!
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About Me: A data science faculty and entrepreneur. A mentor to my students…A mother to my two kids and a life partner to my spouse, a caring daughter to my aging mom, a loving sibling to my sisters, a guide to my niece. Just like all of you I am a juggler! Some days we are super dexterous and on some others it all comes crashing down. The next day we dust it off and start all over again inching towards becoming the super goddesses we are all born to be! My mission for the “The Power Posse” network is to build a supportive community where we can support each other in this pursuit of having it all!
I truly believe : “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”
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