Cracked Ceilings, Unstable Footing: Persistent Risks in Women’s Representation and Retention in Top Leadership

The proportion of women in senior management roles has increased in recent years, with women now finally holding over 30% of these positions globally. For many, this 30% marks an optimistic tipping point of the push for gender equality in leadership. However, popular media has signalled an alarming trend of women leaving senior leadership roles, referred to as the 'Great Break-up'. This high turnover rate raises concerns about the sustainability of women’s representation and threatens the progress made toward gender parity in top leadership.

To better understand the extent and impact of this trend, this dissertation takes a first step in investigating the causes and consequences of turnover for women leaders. In chapter 2 I take an initial look at gendered risks of turnover by pitting Role Congruity Theory and the Power Shield Hypothesis against each other, revealing that men in senior management are protected by their power in higher positions, whereas I do not find that protection effect for women. In chapter 3 I explore the career outcomes of men and women after leaving their CEO role, finding that women are more likely to take less prestigious roles after departing. In chapter 4 I take a step back and look at an explanatory or solving factor for the turnover effects found in chapter 2 and 3: networking. I investigate whether men and women are perceived differently when showing networking behaviour, and find that men receive a communality bonus from behaving in stereotypical 'feminine' ways that women do not. This work highlights the systemic barriers women face, even after reaching top leadership positions and underline the necessity for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to remain active and transformative even after women achieve positions of power.