For the 10th year running, the McKinsey/LeanIn Women in the Workplace report has highlighted mid-career attrition—the so-called “middle gap”—that disproportionately affects women.
Given the significant strides made over the last decade across Europe and North America to address gender inequality, it’s fair to ask: why does this remain so stubbornly persistent?
The COVID pandemic accelerated major shifts in how organisations think about work. Hybrid models, four-day weeks, and flexible working have become far more common. On paper, these changes should support working women.
And yet, here we are—several years on—with many of the same gaps in gender representation at senior levels still firmly in place.
The reality is this: many organisations continue to see a drop-off in female talent at mid-management level. This directly weakens the future leadership pipeline and results in the loss of valuable, diverse perspectives at the top.
So what’s really going on?
Emerging Themes
In our coaching programmes for female leaders, several themes consistently emerge:
- Increasing isolation at senior levels
The higher a woman progresses, the less she is reflected in her peer group. She often becomes “the only” or “one of few”—carrying not just her role, but the weight of representation. - Persistent (often invisible) bias
The belief that men make better leaders hasn’t disappeared—it has simply become more subtle. This makes it harder to challenge and even harder to prove. - Reluctance to ask for help
Many women become less likely to seek support as they grow more senior. Not because they don’t need it, but because experience has taught them that vulnerability can be misinterpreted as incompetence—while the same behaviour in male colleagues is overlooked. - Limited access to power networks
Informal networks still matter. Whether it’s golf days, social events, or behind-the-scenes conversations, women are often less included—and less encouraged to actively cultivate sponsorship. - The compounding effect of the “double shift”
Perhaps most significantly, many women continue to carry the primary responsibility for caregiving alongside demanding roles. As seniority increases, so does the strain. Where organisations show little flexibility or understanding, many women make a rational choice: they step away before burnout becomes inevitable.
None of these factors exist in isolation. Together, they create a system where staying—and progressing—requires a disproportionate level of resilience.
The result? Organisations unintentionally lose exactly the kind of experienced, high-performing women they need in senior leadership.
So what can organisations do differently?
Small, intentional shifts can make a meaningful difference:
- Make sponsorship a leadership responsibility, not a personal initiative
Don’t leave it to individuals to “find a sponsor.” Build sponsorship into senior leaders’ objectives and measure it. - Normalise asking for help at the top
Senior leaders set the tone. When they openly seek input, admit uncertainty, and collaborate, it reduces the penalty for others to do the same. - Audit access to opportunity—not just outcomes
Who gets the high-visibility projects? Who is in the room when decisions are shaped? Equity here matters more than policies on paper. - Design flexibility that works at senior levels
Flexibility often disappears as roles become more senior. That’s exactly where it’s needed most. If senior roles can’t flex, the pipeline will continue to leak. - Address workload, not just wellbeing
Offering wellbeing programmes while maintaining unsustainable expectations misses the point. The issue is structural, not individual resilience. - Make the “middle gap” visible and accountable
Track mid-career attrition by gender. If you’re not measuring it, you’re not managing it.
If organisations are serious about building diverse leadership, the focus can’t just be on hiring or early careers. The real test lies in what happens in the middle—because that’s where the future of leadership is either sustained or quietly lost.
If you’d like some guidance or just talk through your issues in the strictest confidence, then get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.