Elizabeth Wallace

For women juggling work and family life, money is a more powerful argument than passion for staying in the workforce.

One colleague’s constant refrain: “When are you going to have babies and quit?”

For all the focus on parental leave as a barrier to women’s professional ascent, women’s real struggle with work-parenting balance grew—alongside their children—years after their maternity leave ended.

Power couples are a rarity. Instead, many high-achieving women have husbands who do their own opting out.

For women who left the workforce, their ambitions didn’t disappear so much as found a new target.

“I went to a job interview after my first daughter was born and cried the whole way home.”

Some women prioritize career. Others prioritize their kids. It's those who try to juggle both who often feel they aren’t succeeding at either.