According to the BLS, the participation rate for all U.S. workers in 2012 was 63.6 percent, the lowest rate for men or women since 1981. Women were the largest demographic segment exiting the labor force, however, with a participation rate in April, 2012 of 57.6 percent (versus men’s participation rate of 70.2 percent). A new UNC Executive Development white paper, Retaining Women in the Workplace, explores why women are leaving the workplace.

White paper author Amy Wittmayer, director of the MBA Career Management Center at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, explains that the downward trend in American women’s labor force participation rate leveled off during the recession, but as the economy recovered, women began leaving the workforce.

Researchers examining the trend concluded that there were two top drivers at play in a woman’s opt-out decision—educational attainment and childcare issues. Lang, president and chief executive at Catalyst, however, concludes that women are not choosing to opt-out, but are rather being pushed out by the lack of professional opportunities for advancement and raises. Employers are simply not providing mid-career women with the opportunities that would increase their likelihood of staying in the workforce.

But research shows that the presence of women in the workforce and in leadership positions can increase productivity and innovation and improve team dynamics and decision-making processes. Their presence in the workplace, according to a McKinsey & Company report, also boosts the economy.

The good news, though, is that women who do opt out of the workforce aren’t opting out permanently. A Center for Work-Life Policy study found that almost all the women surveyed who had left senior-level positions planned to return to work, but only 5 percent said they would return to their former employer, and another survey found that none of the women surveyed said they would return to their former employer.

And the white paper offers suggestions to HR and talent management professionals about how their organizations can encourage women’s re-entry into the workforce and how to develop women to encourage their entry into leadership positions.

• Offer flexibility.

• Offer family-friendly benefits and encourage all employees to use them.

• Develop an organizational culture that makes work-life balance not only an expectation, but a reality.

• Actively develop women as leaders. 

Retaining Women in the Workplace provides examples of what some leading organizations are doing to retain women and to develop them into corporate leaders.

To learn more about this trend, actions employers can take to retain and develop women, and practices of organizations that are leading the way in retaining and developing women, download the white paper from the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Resource Library.