ir hands when women in senior roles bail at the next-to-highest rung of the ladder."

He laughed, either in sympathy or amusement at my apoplexy, or both. Now mind you, I haven't seen the study, so I'm one degree removed from the conclusions (much less the data), but here's my

I got a phone call from a magazine writer who was working on a story. Turns out that Stanford University put out a research study looking at what barriers exist for women in the corporate world. They talked to something like 1,000 of their MBA grads - not new grads, but people who went through Stanford over many years - and asked them what was keeping women out of the top ranks of corporations. Here's what they reported:

There is no glass ceiling. Women themselves are opting out of the top jobs, for lifestyle reasons or because they don't want the pressure.

So, asked the writer, "What do you think about that?"

Have you ever heard a person sputter on the phone? That's what I did. I couldn't find words for a moment.

"Bleeping brilliant!" I said. "That is magnificent - there is no glass ceiling, it's we ourselves who are opting out of senior leadership roles because, you know, there's so much pressure. That's perfect, because companies who accept that wisdom can dismantle their mentoring programs, save the money that they might be spending on their high-potential women, and stop wringing their hands when women in senior roles bail at the next-to-highest rung of the ladder."

He laughed, either in sympathy or amusement at my apoplexy, or both. Now mind you, I haven't seen the study, so I'm one degree removed from the conclusions (much less the data), but here's my

went through Stanford over many years - and asked them what was keeping women out of the top ranks of corporations. Here's what they reported:

There is no glass ceiling. Women themselves are opting out of the top jobs, for lifestyle reasons or because they don't want the pressure.

So, asked the writer, "What do you think about that?"

Have you ever heard a person sputter on the phone? That's what I did. I couldn't find words for a moment.

"Bleeping brilliant!" I said. "That is magnificent - there is no glass ceiling, it's we ourselves who are opting out of senior leadership roles because, you know, there's so much pressure. That's perfect, because companies who accept that wisdom can dismantle their mentoring programs, save the money that they might be spending on their high-potential women, and stop wringing their hands when women in senior roles bail at the next-to-highest rung of the ladder."

He laughed, either in sympathy or amusement at my apoplexy, or both. Now mind you, I haven't seen the study, so I'm one degree removed from the conclusions (much less the data), but here's my

sure.

So, asked the writer, "What do you think about that?"

Have you ever heard a person sputter on the phone? That's what I did. I couldn't find words for a moment.

"Bleeping brilliant!" I said. "That is magnificent - there is no glass ceiling, it's we ourselves who are opting out of senior leadership roles because, you know, there's so much pressure. That's perfect, because companies who accept that wisdom can dismantle their mentoring programs, save the money that they might be spending on their high-potential women, and stop wringing their hands when women in senior roles bail at the next-to-highest rung of the ladder."

He laughed, either in sympathy or amusement at my apoplexy, or both. Now mind you, I haven't seen the study, so I'm one degree removed from the conclusions (much less the data), but here's my

ho are opting out of senior leadership roles because, you know, there's so much pressure. That's perfect, because companies who accept that wisdom can dismantle their mentoring programs, save the money that they might be spending on their high-potential women, and stop wringing their hands when women in senior roles bail at the next-to-highest rung of the ladder."

He laughed, either in sympathy or amusement at my apoplexy, or both. Now mind you, I haven't seen the study, so I'm one degree removed from the conclusions (much less the data), but here's my

ir hands when women in senior roles bail at the next-to-highest rung of the ladder."

He laughed, either in sympathy or amusement at my apoplexy, or both. Now mind you, I haven't seen the study, so I'm one degree removed from the conclusions (much less the data), but here's my take on the notion that women opt out of senior leadership spots rather than being kept out of them by their leaders:

Yes - we do. We leave. Because of the pressure? Oh, give me a break. Not because of the pressure - because of BS level that comes with the territory.

Think about senior-level roles in corporations these days. I don't think that there are more politics in actual politics than there are in major corporations. It's a tough way to live - watching your back, attending to your alliances, spouting the party line and fighting your battles behind the scenes. Generally I stay away from sweeping generalizations about one gender or the other. But I feel comfortable saying this: women have a lower threshold for idiotic, posturing, political, inauthentic behavior, day in and day out. Women have a cognitive dissonance alarm that gets louder and louder day by day so that they finally conclude, "This isn't me. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep my mouth shut, go along, and play the good soldier for one more day, much less another fifteen years until retirement." And that's just it - they're done.