Female Leadership and Motherhood: Navigating Careers at the Top

The persistent underrepresentation of women in executive roles remains a critical issue in contemporary organizations, particularly when intersecting with motherhood. Despite growing awareness and institutional commitments to gender equality, female leaders continue to encounter systemic barriers that hinder their career progression, especially when navigating family planning decisions. The “career-motherhood dilemma,” the tension between professional advancement and the desire to become a mother, is a complex challenge shaped by sociocultural expectations, organizational practices, and internalized pressures. Through qualitative interviews with women in top executive roles – specifically CEOs and CFOs, this volume explores the role of leadership and motherhood, investigating the factors that influence the decision to become a mother and how this decision interacts with career trajectories. This book enriches the understanding of female leadership by shedding light on how motherhood shapes career trajectories at the executive level. By amplifying the experiences of female leaders, it offers both theoretical contributions and practical implications – calling for more inclusive organizational norms and providing actionable insights for policymakers and firms aiming to support women in balancing leadership and motherhood without compromising career advancement.