Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Why do you think many women opt out from seeking higher levels of corporate leadership? Discuss why you think this either is or is not a trend that might hurt organizations over the next decade. 

Some facts about the "opt out revolution" -

A study by Deloitte and Touche, conducted two decades ago, found 70% of women who left their companies were still working full-time a year later, just for a different employer, and less than 10% had left the workforce to take care of their families1. When examining the total population of mothers who stay at home with their children, “opt-out moms”2 make up a very small fraction (4%) of the total number of stay-at-home moms. The majority of these women left reluctantly, finding they had been passed over for high-visibility assignments, offered dead-end positions, or given projects with less satisfying tasks. Most women (77%) still believe that the reason women are not advancing in their careers is because they chose family over work (Livingston, 2014).3 However, according to a recent Pew Research Center report, much of the recent growth in stay-at-home moms has been driven by those with less education.4

[1] Kanter, Rosabeth M., and Jane Roessner. "Deloitte & Touche (A): A Hole in the Pipeline." Harvard Business School Case 300-012, September 1999. (Revised May 2003.) - you can purchase this case through ESC library or from Harvard Business School Case Collection

2 “These so-called “opt-out moms” (roughly 10% of all highly educated mothers) make up just 1% of the nation’s 35 million mothers ages 18 to 69 who are living with their children younger than 18. For our purposes, “opt-out moms” are mothers who have at least a Master’s degree, an annual family income of $75,000 or more; a working husband; and who state that they are out of the workforce in order to care for their family.” See: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/07/opting-out-about-10-of-highly-educated-moms-are-staying-at-home/ (Links to an external site.)

3 Livingston, G. (2014). Opting out? About 10% of highly educated moms are staying at home

Pew Research Center, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/07/opting-out- (Links to an external site.)about-10-of-highly-educated-moms-are-staying-at-home/

4 http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/04/08/after-decades-of-decline-a-rise-in-stay-at-home-mothers/ (Links to an external site.)