Taking time off to start a family still has a negative career impact
Personal barriers
of respondents cited taking a career break was a barrier to career progression.
The issue
Taking a career break to start a family is considered the most significant barrier for female leaders seeking to progress their career. This issue was cited by 26% of respondents in our survey, with 33% of C-suite women mentioning it compared to 17% of business owners and founders. This suggests that business owners have more flexibility than someone who is employed, but still struggle to balance work and family life.
To add to the challenge, the women we spoke to highlighted the ‘double whammy’ of social pressure both in and out of the workplace: women who were perceived to take a short maternity period and return to work after a few months were stigmatised as bad mothers; whereas fathers who looked to take increased parental leave were perceived as not being career driven.
What our panel said
“There are not as many women getting into senior roles as there could and should be. If you're having children in your 30s, you could step away from work for 2-5 years until primary school age—and it's going to take you until you're 45 to potentially build yourself back up into getting into those senior roles."
- Rebecca Rosmini
“My experience over the years is that some of the people that I've employed that have come back from maternity leave are some of the most loyal individuals in the organisation. They're really focused and committed. If there is an opportunity to create a flexible environment to allow that to happen, then you end up with an excellent asset within the organisation. But with small and medium sized businesses, it can sometimes be difficult to do that [in terms of reduced hours]; a business might need to hire three people working part-time to cover a single role. There has to be a compromise between the employer and the employee.”
- Heidi Carslaw
“During the pandemic and other financial downturns, there is a clear trend of making women redundant first - often because they work part time or have been on family leave so score less well than those active in the business. The steps to remedy this trend are just bedding in. The wider challenge is to ensure that the skills which are seen as stereotypically female (team working, cooperation, collaboration) are not lesser and that we grow away from gendered perceptions of what a good leader looks like.”
- Melanie Stancliffe
Action needed
While we can’t change the biology of parenting, we can lead the way in changing attitudes by offering options on flexible working and celebrating the concept of a ‘curvy career path’.
With the rise in shared parental leave, we’re shifting the perception that women will be absent from work for extended periods. Employers should encourage this by offering co-parents the same enhanced leave benefits as mothers.
Organisations can put in place initiatives that support women returning to work from a career break. At Cripps, we partner with the Reignite Academy which supports individuals returning to the legal profession after a career break or those looking for a change in direction.