Business leaders in the US wring their hands over the country’s shortage of scientists, engineers and technologists, often citing it as the biggest constraint on growth. In an attempt to improve the situation, they have lobbied for a relaxation on visa requirements to allow foreign nationals to fill the gap. Yet employers fail to realise that the talent they need is already here – if only they can retain it.

Our research suggests that on the lower rungs of corporate career ladders, 41 per cent of highly qualified scientists, engineers and technologists are women. But drop-out rates are huge: over time 52 per cent of these women quit their jobs.

Most strikingly, this female exodus is not a steady trickle. Rather, there seems to be a moment in women’s lives – in their mid to late thirties – when most head for the door.

So why do women leave these careers? First and foremost, the hostility and machismo of the workplace culture drives them out; secondly, the sense of isolation that comes with being the only female on a team or at her rank; thirdly, there is a strong lack of connection between women’s preferred work rhythms and the risky behaviour that is recognised and rewarded in these male-dominated fields.

Finally, there is the prevalence of extreme jobs with their long weeks and punishing travel schedules, and the mystery around career advancement. None of this is good news, but because we know the worst pressures that women face, companies can begin to relieve them. The companies that are part of our research consortium have launched 14 initiatives to do so. Johnson & Johnson, a healthcare business, is providing leadership development to young, high-potential multicultural women and strengthening their connections with senior management. Microsoft has created a group of interlocking “mentoring rings” with an eye to giving female talent better access to and mentoring from senior managers – especially at career stages when support is most needed.

Alcoa, an aluminium producer, has targeted the issue of attracting more women into operating management roles. The company is offering women with high potential who might be interested in production or technical roles the chance to try them out through temporary assignments and is helping them to stay on track through career development plans. Finally, Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, is mentoring female scientists at Yale University.

It will be a long time before such initiatives add up to system-wide change, but our research suggests that if we could cut female attrition by 25 per cent, we could add 220,000 highly qualified workers to the labour market.

This is an edited extract from Stopping the Exodus of Women in Science, by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Carolyn Buck Luce and Lisa J. Servon in Harvard Business Review (June). See hbr.org for more

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