So the irony——and, to me, the tragedy—is that women wind up leaving the workforce precisely because of things they did to stay in the workforce. 所以，讽刺的地方就在于，女性离开职场的原因恰恰是因为她们没能实现自己的目标。

With the best of intentions, they end up in a job that is less fulfilling and less engaging. 出于最好的打算，她们会选择一份成就感和吸引力都不太大的工作。

When they finally have a child, the choice—for those who have one—is between becoming a stay-at-home mother or returning to a less-than-appealing professional situation. 等孩子出生后，对那些有孩子的人来说，面临的选择就是做个全职妈妈还是重新回到之前的那种工作状态之中。

Joanna Strober, co-author of Getting to 50/50, credits a compelling job for her decision to return to the workforce after becoming a mother. 《两性相处》一书的作者之一乔安娜·斯特罗布曾将得到好工作的原因归功于自己成为母亲后重返职场。

"When I first started working, there were lots of scary stories about female executives who ignored their kids or weren't home enough," she told me. “当我刚开始工作时，听到很多关于女性高管忽视孩子或不常回家的‘恐怖’故事。”她跟我说，

"Everyone in our office talked about one executive whose daughter supposedly told her that when she grew up she wanted to be a client because they got all the attention. “办公室里每个人都在议论，说某位女性高管的女儿说长大后想做母亲的客户，因为客户占去了母亲所有的注意力。

I found these stories so depressing that I gave up before even really starting down the partner track. 我发现这些故事让人心情压抑，导致我还没开始向成为合伙人的目标迈进就打退堂鼓了。

However, when five years later I was in a job I really loved, I found myself wanting to return to work after a few weeks of maternity leave. 5年之后，当我真正爱上自己的工作时，才发现我很想在休完产假之后立即重返工作岗位。

I realized those executives weren't scary at all. 我意识到这些女性高管心里并不恐惧。

Like me, they loved their kids a lot. And, like me, they also loved their jobs." 就像我一样，她们不仅非常爱自己的孩子，她们也热爱自己的工作。”

There are many powerful reasons to exit the workforce. 退出职场有很多充分的理由。