Are Turnover Rates Higher for Women? Exploring Employee Retention by Gender
Turnover rates for women are higher than for men across almost all levels, including executives.
Female executives are leaving companies at 2.5% higher rates on average than men—a pattern that has significant implications for representation, leadership continuity, and organizational performance.
We explored turnover data from Pave’s dataset across job levels (P1-P5 for individual contributors, M3-M6 for managers, and E7-E9 for executives), segmented by gender, which includes both voluntary and involuntary turnover. Let’s dive into the findings.
Employee Turnover by Gender Across Levels
For this analysis, we explored data from 171K employee records, which includes a combination of voluntary and involuntary turnover.
Average Turnover Rate by Gender & Level
Turnover Rates for Men vs Women Among Managers & ICs
For individual contributors (P1-P5), turnover rates for women averaged 25.2% versus 24.7% for men—a smaller 0.8 percentage point gap. The P1 level presents the only instance where turnover among men (34.5%) actually exceeds turnover among women (33.7%).
It's worth noting that data for the P6 level—the most senior individual contributor role—was excluded from this analysis due to significantly higher turnover rates for women that appeared as statistical outliers. This suggests a potential critical transition point that warrants dedicated investigation.
Among managers (M3-M6), the gender disparity narrows but remains consistent. Managers who are women show a 20.7% turnover rate compared to 19.9% for men—a 1.3 percentage point difference.
Turnover Rates for Male & Female Executives
At the executive tier (E7-E9), turnover reaches 23.7% for women compared to 21.2% for men—a substantial 2.5 percentage point difference that could draw into question concerns about leadership representation.
At E9, turnover for female executives (21.8%) exceeds male turnover (15.5%) in the C-suite by 6.3 percentage points, while at E7, the gap sits at 1.6 percentage points (26.0% vs. 24.6%). Only at E8 is turnover relatively equal, with the rate for women (23.5%) sitting slightly ahead of men at 23.3%.
What Industry Benchmark Data Tells Us About Employee Retention by Gender
Pave's benchmarking data highlights a concerning trend: the gender turnover gap widens with seniority, particularly as employees transition into executive roles. This pattern creates a "leaky pipeline" effect that compounds representation challenges at higher organizational levels.
The data shows a clear progression in the gender gap across tiers:
- Executive roles: 2.5 percentage point gap
- Management roles: 0.8 percentage point gap
- Individual contributor roles: 0.5 percentage point gap
This escalating pattern is consistent with broader industry trends. Pave's analysis aligns with patterns observed in similar studies, including the US Government Accountability Office’s “Women in the Workforce” report, suggesting this is not an isolated phenomenon but rather a larger workforce challenge.
The M6-to-E7 transition appears particularly crucial, as the gender turnover rate jumps dramatically at this juncture. This suggests that companies may want to focus retention efforts on women preparing to make the leap from senior management to executive positions.
Turnover is just one piece of the representation puzzle. When combined with data on promotion rates and new hire patterns, turnover analysis provides a comprehensive view of where the talent pipeline may be breaking down. This multifaceted approach allows for more targeted interventions at specific career stages.
Take Action with Pave Data
A good employee retention strategy begins with the right compensation data. Access industry benchmarks and analyze by various dimensions, including gender and job level, with Pave’s Market Data.
Learn more about Pave’s end-to-end compensation platform
