Female leaders are leaving their companies at the highest rate in years as they seek more from their workplaces, according to a new study on the state of women in corporate America.
The 2022 "Women in the Workplace" study is the latest one from LeanIn.Org and McKinsey and Co., which launched the study in 2015. This year's study is based on information from more than 330 participating organizations employing more than 12 million people. Researchers also surveyed more than 40,000 employees and interviewed women of diverse identities, including women of color, LGBTQ women and women with disabilities.
The study found that female leaders, including senior managers, vice presidents and those in the C-suite, are leaving their jobs at the highest rate — 10.5 percent in 2021, compared to 9 percent for men — since McKinsey and LeanIn.Org started collecting attrition data from companies in 2017.
"Now companies have a new pipeline problem. Women leaders are leaving their companies at the highest rate in years, and the gap between women and men leaders leaving is the largest we've ever seen," McKinsey and LeanIn.Org wrote in their report about the study. "To put the scale of the problem in perspective: for every woman at the director level who gets promoted to the next level, two women directors are choosing to leave their company."
The study cited three key reasons why women leaders are leaving their jobs: they "want to advance, but they face stronger headwinds than men"; they are overworked and not recognized enough; and their desire for a better work culture.
To read more about the study, click here.