You don’t have to look far to find books and articles with advice for females looking to climb the corporate ladder. Management experts, career coaches, and leadership gurus all have techniques, advice, and popular spins on how to make it to the top! It’s no surprise. Compelling reasons exist for company leaders to hire and retain women in executive-level positions. Organizational theorists have written about leadership strengths of women, which are perceived as different from the strengths of men.
But something has shifted. Many women who previously held executive-level positions have made mindful decisions to move out of executive-level positions and reposition their careers. Some have chosen to stay in the workforce on a full-time basis, often in healthier corporate cultures that do not micromanage and that value them as leaders.
According to researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010), the demographics chronicling the entry of women into the workforce have been changing. In 1950, women 20 years of age and older accounted for approximately 26% of the workforce. In 1960, the number grew to 30%. By 1970, approximately 34% of the workforce consisted of women 20 years of age and older. In 1980, the number of women increased to 38%. By 1990, 42% of the workforce was composed of women 20 years of age and older, and the number reached 44% in 2000. Today half of the workforce is made up of women (The Shriver Report, 2010).
With as many women in the workforce as men, it would seem reasonable that leadership positions would be populated with equal numbers of men and women, but this just isn’t the case. In fact, many women who have previously held leadership positions are increasingly repositioning their careers and, in the process of repositioning, are making decisions to opt out of executive-level positions. To assist employers with retention of female leaders, I conducted interviews for my dissertation in 2009 with women who opted out of high-level executive positions. Five major themes emerged. The themes were the executive-level female’s desire for increased control and flexibility, a concern for family responsibilities, the business environment as it relates to women’s decisions to opt out, interest in another career, and lack of support as reasons for exodus. Each of the emergent themes provided insight into the exodus of females from leadership positions.
Desire for Increased Flexibility and Control
Nearly half of all women who left executive-level positions expressed a desire for increased flexibility and more control over their work. Female executives are interested in increased flexibility and control in their positions. Research revealed that existing corporate cultures with closed management styles and micromanagement offered little in the way of compressed work weeks, flexible hours, and telecommuting options, all components that could enhance an employee’s ability to thrive. One interviewee said, “I can just provide a great deal more flexibility and autonomy, and overall security on my own, by doing it myself.”
Concern for Family Responsibilities
Nearly a third of the women interviewed cited concern for family members as catalysts for their opt-out decisions. The women interviewed opted out for spouses, children, and parents. By providing female executives with options that would allow them to tend to family responsibilities while continuing in their executive-level positions, approximately 25% of those expressing concern for family members would have stayed in their positions. Aligning personal and professional goals is not an easy task, and children seem to provide a greater pull for women than for men
The Business Environment
Dissatisfaction with the environment in their places of business caused at least 25% of the women interviewed to eventually leave their executive-level positions. Some of the women interviewed explained that desire for increased security played into their thought process regarding an exodus. A different business environment might have caused the women to stay.  
Interest in Another Career
Twenty-five percent of the women interviewed citied interest in another career as reason for their exodus. It is possible that these women would have left regardless of any changes that might have occurred in the business environment, since they were ready for a major shift in their type of work. The number of self-employed women in the U.S. has skyrocketed and some women simply find that their interests have shifted, making a career in another field more appealing to them.  
Lack of Support
Nearly one quarter of the women interviewed cited lack of support as a determining factor when they decided to leave their positions. In cases where supervisory support was lacking, it is possible that changes in supervisors or in existing supervisory approaches may have caused the women to stay. In cases where support at home was lacking, it is less likely that increased support at work would have resulted in the women staying in their executive-level positions.
So what is an employer to do? Employers who wish to retain women in leadership positions can influence change that might result in the retention of their female executives. Forty-five percent of the women interviewed indicated there was something their employer could have done to make them stay. Employers who make the grade often keep talented females in their organizations. What is your company doing to keep your female executives?  

In addition to more than 20 years experience in leadership positions, Dr. Carrie Stringham has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in human resources for more than fifteen years. Carrie is a consultant and trainer in the areas of human resources, healthcare administration, and organizational leadership and can be reached at www.stringhamresources.com.