Who decided what ambition looks like?
Why the so-called “ambition gap” is really a leadership and systems failure
Articleat a glance
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Women do not lack ambition.Dr Poornima Luthra explains thatworkplaces are still structured in ways that make careerprogressionhardto sustain.
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As a result, women areredefiningambition on their own terms, with many turning to entrepreneurship rather thanclimbing the corporate ladder.
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The sheer volume of womenleaving their jobs should serve as a wake-up call.
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Businesses mustrethink how“ambition”and“success”are defined byevaluating theirworkplace systems and culturestomake suretalent is notbeinglostdue to poorly designed systems.
"Ambition”and“success”need redefining
Women do not lack ambition, as theconcludes.Butthere is a cost to success which has prompted many women to leave the workforce.Ambition is about growth and challenge;it'sa personal driver which reflects our individuality.
A recentfound that almosthalf a million women had left their jobs in the US between January and October in 2025forreasons ranging from poor work-life balance, thecostand challenges of accessing childcare and toxic workplace cultures.
These pressures reflect a deeper structural issue: many workplaces were not designed with diverse career paths or life circumstances in mind.
As a result,manywomen areturning to entrepreneurship.Women are now startingnearly halfof the businesses in the US, according toa recent article in Forbes magazine.A2024cites the number of women-owned businesses increasing atnearly doublethe rate of male-owned businesses between 2019 and 2023.Choosing entrepreneurshipdoesn’tsignal lower ambition. It often signals the opposite — ambition on one’s own terms.
Whenorganisationsfail tosupport diverse forms of ambition, they risk losing talented employees.
Whyisthis abusiness problem
The sheer volume of women leaving their jobs should serve as a wake-up callto business leaders.Manyorganisationsare still largely run by men, and gender biases, both subtle and explicit, continue to shape workplace culture.Whenorganisationsfail tosupport diverse forms of ambition, they risk losing talented employees.
How business leaders can redefineambition and success
We need tomakeboth cultural and organisational changes, with a long, hard look at what ambition and success should look like.Business leadersmustredefine these constructs for the workforce and next generation:
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On the systems side, leaders must revisit hiring, promotion criteria, pay structures and performance evaluation. If we define ambition solely as vertical progression, we will continue to reproduce inequalityand risk losing talented employees.
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On the cultural side, leaders must model sustainable success. That means realistic expectations, visible boundary-setting, and rejecting the idea that heroic sacrifice equals commitment.
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All leaders and team members should have the agency to challenge bias in their own teams.
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Conversations about equity of opportunity must start early, in classrooms and around dining tables, as we speak to young people about success.
Before we question women’s ambition, we need to question the systemswe’vebuilt.If the goalisn’tdesirable, the cost is too high and the supportisn’tthere,disengagement cannot be named as a lack of ambition.It’ssimply a rational response to inappropriately designed systems.
