Inside the "Great Breakup," and what it means for the women who stay

Back in 2022, which Lean In and McKinsey dubbed the "Great Breakup," firms were shedding two women directors for each one they elevated to that level. Those women were not fully leaving paid employment behind. They were walking out the door, badge and institutional memory in hand, at a pace twice as fast as their employers were moving people up.

What makes it so unexpected for many people

Director is the level where the hard climb was supposed to be finished. Portland professionals know the route well: you pushed through the formative years, navigated the math of parental leave, and outlasted the manager who mistook you for the intern. Eventually you secured the title, along with the budget decisions that accompany it. That is exactly the level where women were leaving at twice the rate they were advancing. Nothing was leaking from the base of the pipeline. It was springing them at the point where the company had already invested the most to fill it.

Source of the number, and where its reach ends

The figure comes from the 2022 edition of Women in the Workplace, the yearly study run by Lean In and McKinsey, and it was widely covered, including by Katie Couric Media. Its boundaries matter. It describes one year and is based on firms that chose to participate, a population that skews toward big American corporations. "Leaving" means leaving that particular employer, not corporate life as a whole. Some of those directors took a better director post across town, a gain for them and a loss only for the company that let them go. Data from 2025 indicates the same underlying trend persists. For every 100 men promoted to manager, 93 women are promoted, and for women of color that number drops to 74. Eighty percent of women report wanting advancement, versus 86 percent of men, and that gap disappears once both groups receive identical backing. The ambition is present. Support is the variable that changes the outcome.

Picture how it feels from the inside

You occupy a director's role. Over the last year and a half, two of the four women performing at your level in the Portland office have moved on. One of them took a larger role with a rival firm. Another started her own company. At the Portland offsite, the chief people officer flashes a retention slide and never names either woman. Looking around the table, you see that you are now the most senior woman present, and no one has discussed what would keep you from following them.

How this affects those still in the room

Remaining put after a string of resignations does not automatically amount to the cautious choice. You have, without realizing it, entered into a bargaining situation. Having just seen its investment depart, the company is aware that your exit could be the next. That gives you leverage, but leverage has an expiry date. A year from now, the exits will be old news, and your staying will be filed away as loyalty, the least expensive thing a company can get.

It also means more work is landing on you. With fewer senior women around, there are more panels to join, more mentoring requests, and more "could you sit in on this." None of that counts toward a promotion, and all of it now belongs to you.

What comes next

Initiate the retention discussion that your employer ought to have raised on its own. Do it this month, not next quarter. You might say something like: "Two of my colleagues have left this year. I want to stay. What will my next position involve, and what is the deadline? A company intent on keeping you will reply with a specific position and a date. One that does not will rely on praise instead. Each reply reveals something, yet only one of them spares you from losing another year in Portland or across the metro.

If your company lost women directors this year, did anyone in Beaverton or Portland ask you to stay?