For too long, taking time out of work to care for others has cut short careers and brilliant, talented women are unable to re-enter industries which will not support them to return. This is a huge loss not only to those individuals, but to our economy and businesses all over the country. We are investing in returners to work — giving them the opportunity to refresh and grow their skills and encouraging employers to change their outdated recruitment processes. 

Victoria Atkins // Minister for Women in UK 

All economies have savings and productivity gains if women have access to the job market. It’s not just a moral, philosophical or equal-opportunity matter. It’s also an economic cause. It just makes economic sense.” 

Christine Lagarde // ‘IMF’s Lagarde: Women In Workforce Key To Healthy Economies’ // NPR, The Changing Lives of Women // 2014.

“We heard the disappointment – and discouragement – of women who had reached senior levels in corporations only to find the glass ceiling still in place…. these women feel that they are languishing an have not been given either the opportunities or the recognition that would allow them to realize their full potential.” 

Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Carolyn Buck Luce // ‘Off-ramps and On-ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success’ // Harvard Business Review on Women in Business 

These myths, with their focus on individual women and their presumed “choices” and preferences, obscure the more influential role played by inflexible, unresponsive workplaces that limit, rather than expand, women’s options. “Opting out” imagery also obscures and renders invisible the very real costs borne by women in deploying this strategy.

Pamela Stone // “Opting Out”: Challenging Stereotypes and Creating Real Options for Women in the Professions’ // Harvard Business Review Research Symposium: Gender & Work