We Need to Talk the So-Called Ambition Gap

By now we’ve all heard that women are leaving the traditional workforce in droves. More recently, findings from McKinsey & Co’s Women in the Workplace annual report indicate that for the first time in a decade, fewer women than men are interested in getting promoted at work — which might have just a little something to do with the fact that women aren't recieving enough career support. Ya think?!?

Now, we need to talk about the discourse this report is inspiring. According to many, this tells us that women are just…getting less ambitious. But let’s step back for a second and think about what’s really at play here. Because as usual, the societal tendency is to put the onus on the women rather than considering all the context. 

Since we’re not in the business of blaming women for systemic failures, we need to approach this in a different way.

In 2025, it’s abundantly clear: Women are doing the bulk of the domestic labor and caregiving (whether for their own kids, their aging parents, siblings, friends, etc). No, it’s not just in our heads: There’s plenty of data to back this up.

We’re still seeing a wage gap, still operating under a set of biases, and still living in a world that dismisses our concerns, whether those concerns relate to our health or our lived experiences. In light of all that, why are we still assuming that women have just lost their collective ambition?

In reality, we’ve been forced to rethink the balance of work and life, and we’re constantly finding ways to recalibrate. The problem is, societal ideas about ambition and commitment and dedication to the job haven’t changed to meet this recalibration.

Most women, especially women with caregiving responsibilities, are completely burnt out in a system that does nothing to support them. Of course they’re hesitant to chase longer hours, increased responsibilities, and the mental juggle of acclimating to a new job. Even in cases in which they go after those promotions, they’re still often passed over because they don’t stay at the office until the wee hours or because they can’t attend every evening networking event — not because they’re lazy on unambitious, but because they have multiple other jobs waiting for them at home.

And so women are doing what needs to be done. Some are becoming stay-at-home moms or taking sabbaticals, but others are starting businesses, going freelance, making career pivots....basically, many of us are exiting the old-school corporate sturctures that have let us down one too many times. That's pretty freaking ambitious, if you ask me. 

It’s not the time to call out the ambition gap. It’s time to rethink the concept of ambition entirely. Because we can’t continue to lean in unless we have some sort to lean on.