-- We’ve Been Asking the Wrong Question About Working Mothers
For decades, corporate conversations about motherhood and career have revolved around one misguided question: Do women lose ambition after they have children?
Alexa Starks, CEO of Executive Moms, wants to make one thing clear: that’s not the problem, the design of work is.
In the newly published Future of Working Motherhood Annual Report, Executive Moms compiles groundbreaking research from women across industries, job levels, and countries. The results aren’t just revealing. They’re urgent.
“This data fundamentally changes how we should think about retention and sustainable work,” says Starks. “We keep treating working motherhood as an individual challenge to manage, when it’s actually a systems design problem to solve.”
The report confronts long-standing myths, reframes corporate responsibility, and offers a blueprint for how companies can retain talented women not by doing more, but by doing work design differently.
Mothers Aren’t Opting Out. They’re Wearing Down.
The research uncovered a critical truth: nearly 40% of mothers surveyed eventually left a role or employer due to lack of support after returning from maternity leave.
But this wasn’t because they didn’t try.
65% of those exits happened within the first year, and a third within just three months. These weren’t hasty decisions. They were slow exits from systems that never adapted.
“What we see in the data is not a sudden loss of motivation,” Starks explains. “We see women trying very hard to make it work. They absorb strain quietly. They recalibrate their own ambitions to survive systems that never recalibrated for them.”
The message is clear: attrition isn’t impulsive. It’s cumulative. And most companies never see it coming, until it’s too late.
Reentry Isn’t a Date. It’s a Design Test.
One of the most telling moments in the motherhood-career timeline is reentry: the return to work after maternity leave. Unfortunately, most companies treat it as just that, a moment.
But in reality, reentry is a transition. It includes physical recovery, emotional processing, sleep deprivation, feeding logistics, and brand-new family dynamics, all stacked on top of full-time expectations that rarely adjust.
“Reentry after maternity leave is the most revealing stress test of modern work,” says Starks. “It shows whether a company has designed for predictable change and flexibility, or whether it expects individuals to absorb the cost of that change on their own.”
Very few respondents in the report reported having any structured reentry plan. Most described returning to high performance expectations immediately, often while still figuring out how to juggle basic human needs.
That’s not just a missed opportunity. It’s a retention risk.
Managers Shape Experience, But Systems Shape Survival
One of the most compelling data points in the Executive Moms report?
68% of respondents said their manager was the single most important factor in whether their reentry experience was positive or negative.
That’s a powerful endorsement of leadership, but also a glaring warning. Because when support depends on individual goodwill, outcomes become inconsistent and unsustainable.
“When flexibility is informal or manager-dependent, outcomes vary wildly,” Starks warns. “That’s not a culture problem. That’s a design problem.”
The report highlights that no matter the country or leave policy, the most influential factor in long-term success was flexible work design, named by 63% of mothers as the top systemic shift needed.
Support shapes how working mothers feel about returning. But design determines whether they can stay.
Motherhood Doesn’t Diminish Ambition, It Refines It
Another myth shattered by the report? That mothers stop striving.
In fact, the data shows no evidence of reduced ambition. What it shows is a recalibration, a clearer focus on what matters, and a refusal to sacrifice well-being for outdated measures of success.
- 76% of respondents said flexibility now matters more than compensation
- 78% believed motherhood made them better leaders, with stronger prioritization, judgment, and focus
“What organizations often label as disengagement is actually discernment,” Starks explains. “Mothers aren’t less ambitious. They’re just unwilling to waste ambition on systems that don’t make sense anymore. Every minute away from your kids matters more now.”
In other words, ambition didn’t disappear. It evolved.
When companies measure success by visibility or hours worked, mothers may appear less driven. But when measured by impact, contribution, and clarity of purpose, a much different picture emerges.
The Cost of Inaction Is Quiet, But It’s Real
When companies fail to support working mothers, the fallout is often invisible until it’s irreversible.
Experienced employees quietly exit. Leadership pipelines dry up. Institutional knowledge slips away. All during peak career years.
And it’s often dismissed as “just life.” But the data suggests something more structural.
“Working moms don’t need to be fixed,” Starks says. “Work does.”
This moment isn’t a crisis, it’s an opportunity. In a world where dual-income households are standard and talent competition is rising, companies that adapt will be the ones that win.
A New Blueprint for Modern Work
The Future of Working Motherhood Annual Report isn’t about parenting. It’s about performance, retention, and the next era of leadership.
“This isn’t about special accommodations,” Starks emphasizes. “It’s about execution. When work is intentionally designed to account for predictable change, trust strengthens, performance stabilizes, and retention improves.”
The most forward-thinking companies are no longer asking if working mothers stay ambitious.
They’re asking: Is our work structure built to make that ambition sustainable?
For those willing to lead the change, Executive Moms provides both the research and the roadmap.
Read the Full Report and Redesign with Purpose
To access the full Future of Working Motherhood Annual Report, visit www.executivemoms.co.
You can also connect with Alexa Starks on LinkedIn for insights, speaking engagements, or partnerships focused on building better systems for the modern workforce.
If you're serious about retaining leadership talent, it’s time to stop treating working motherhood as a side issue, and start designing for it as a core part of your company’s future.
About Executive Moms
Executive Moms is a research-driven organization dedicated to transforming the workplace experience for working mothers and advancing equitable design in modern work systems. Through thought leadership, advocacy, and data-backed initiatives, Executive Moms helps companies reimagine retention, leadership, and performance for a more inclusive future.
Media Contact
Alexa Starks
CEO, Executive Moms
Email: [email protected]
Website: executivemoms.co
LinkedIn: Alexa Starks LinkedIn
Instagram: Alexa Starks Instagram
Contact Info:
Name: Alexa Starks
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Organization: Executive Moms
Website: https://executivemoms.co/
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