Research has shown a lack of gender diversity in B2B marketing leadership, which is making it harder for women to rise to the C-suite, but it is also impacting workplace culture for working mothers.

With fewer female marketing leaders at the top, there are fewer women who have the authority to use their influence to advocate for a better workplace environment for working mums. Alongside this, in smaller firms and startups, women may be the first in their departments, or even in the wider business, to go on maternity leave, which can mean setting the standard for others with no existing precedent.

The idea careers can be neatly parked, that teams will wait patiently, and women will return to work exactly where they left off, just with a slightly more complicated calendar, is having detrimental effects on women’s career progression.

The reality is far messier.

Lindsay Boesen, vice-president of marketing at AI content platform Kerv, took time out to start a family and then did fractional work to “stay sharp” as she says she wasn’t sure she could do full time with very young kids.

She then transitioned back into full-time leadership, but the move wasn’t seamless.

“I had to learn to be okay with not having everything perfect – at work and at home. A lot of that pressure was self-imposed. No one was telling me I had to do it all. But you feel it,” she says.

‘Visibility isn’t ego’: Female CMOs on navigating the challenges of B2B leadership

She laughs when asked whether women are sometimes punished for doing more with less.

“Women – especially mums – we’re magic makers. We make magic out of morsels. And sometimes that comes back as, ‘Well, you’ve managed so far, so you’ll be fine again.’”

The problem, she argues, isn’t capability, but the expectation to keep going no matter what.

“If that’s the case, then you have to be really clear about what you can and can’t deliver. Because otherwise you just keep absorbing more, and the assumption becomes permanent.”

Changing the culture

For Erin Stuckert, chief marketing and strategy officer and North America general manager for Oppizi, a martech firm specialising in offline marketing, motherhood didn’t dilute career aspirations. It forced her to redefine them in real time.

Stuckert’s son was diagnosed mid-pregnancy with severe brain defects which forced her to confront both professional and personal uncertainty simultaneously.

“When we first found out, I was thinking: am I going to be able to work? If we continue this pregnancy, what does this mean for my life?” she explains.

At the time, she was already operating at executive level, and the emotional calculus was stark.

“I’m someone who has always been very ambitious. I identified very strongly with who I was professionally. And suddenly I had to ask whether that version of me was still possible.”

If you’re trusted to do your job, then flexibility works. If you’re not, no policy will save you.

Lindsay Boesen, Kerv

Her experience underlines a recurring theme among senior marketing leaders: motherhood does not diminish professional identity, but it does add an additional layer to navigate.

Over time, Stuckert found her organisation’s flexibility and trust made the difference between continuing her career and stepping away from it entirely.

“There were times I was working from hospital rooms. There were times I had to rush to the emergency room and say, ‘I’m not going to make that meeting,’ and it was no questions asked.”

That support reshaped how she viewed leadership and workplace culture.

“I used to identify almost entirely with who I was professionally. Now there’s more balance — and honestly, it’s made me better at my job.”

But not all women have such a positive experience with their employer.

I used to identify almost entirely with who I was professionally. Now there’s more balance — and honestly, it’s made me better at my job.

Erin Stuckert, Oppizi

“I was made redundant while pregnant,” says one marketer who asked to remain anonymous. “Then I found a new role while six months pregnant, started a new job, learned an entirely new tech stack, went on maternity leave… and two months after giving birth, I was made redundant again.”

Legally, everything was “by the book”. Yet that didn’t make it any less difficult.

“I’d just had a baby. I was postpartum. And suddenly I was thinking about nursery funding, job applications, interviews. I wasn’t enjoying the end of maternity leave at all – it was just stress layered on top of something that was already overwhelming.”

“One HR person actually said to me: ‘Marketers get made redundant all the time.’ And she said it like that was meant to reassure me.”

That throwaway line reveals something deeper about how marketing, and by extension, marketers who become mothers, are viewed in B2B organisations, she says. When revenue is uncertain, marketing is still often seen as optional. When someone is pregnant, that expendability feels amplified.

‘There was no trust’: How workplace culture impacts women in B2B

Policy and practice

Flexibility is often framed as a policy issue. In practice, however, it’s a trust issue.

Across interviews, women repeatedly describe flexibility as the determining factor in whether leadership roles remain sustainable after motherhood.

Stuckert is blunt about what that looks like in real terms.

“It wasn’t just a policy. It was people genuinely meaning it when they said, ‘Do what you need to do.’ That’s very different from saying flexibility exists but making someone feel guilty for using it.”

That culture can create ripple effects beyond individual circumstances.

“I noticed people on my team becoming more open about their own lives,” she says. “It made conversations about family, illness, or caring responsibilities normal instead of hidden.”

But B2B marketing is not universally structured around that trust. Larger organisations, particularly those with traditional industrial roots, can struggle to adapt.

“In some B2B environments, especially manufacturing or very corporate organisations, there are so many layers of HR approvals and policies,” Stuckert notes. “It can feel much more rigid.”

‘All marketing is going to be ABM-ed’: Why AI could be a gamechanger for account-based marketing

That rigidity often collides with the unpredictable realities of parenting, something which is magnified when children have complex medical needs.

“There’s still a huge gap in workplaces talking about caregivers of disabled children,” she adds. “We talk about working parents generally. We don’t talk about that level of caregiving.”

Boesen is similarly direct: “[Trust] is the number one thing,” she says. “If you’re trusted to do your job, then flexibility works. If you’re not, no policy will save you.”

At Kerv, she works in a hybrid model with explicit flexibility – something she credits with allowing her to stay in a senior role.

“I can drop my kids off. I can deal with someone being sick. And everyone knows I’ll still get the job done.”

But trust cuts both ways, and Boesen is keen to point out that as a manager she requires commitment from her team to make that work.

“If companies want flexibility to work, people have to perform at a high level remotely. Accountability and transparency matter. Otherwise, the trust erodes.”

For women returning from maternity leave, that trust is often fragile.
“There’s this underlying fear of being perceived as less committed,” says the anonymous marketer. “Even when your output is the same – or better.”

Shifting priorities

One of the most persistent issues around motherhood and careers is that women “downshift” their ambition, Boesen says. The reality is more nuanced.

“When I was younger, I was very driven,” she reflects. “I wanted to be a CMO. And I still love the work. But now, success also looks like balance.”

That doesn’t mean settling to her.

“It means checking in every six months and asking: is this still working for me and my family? That equilibrium changes over time.”

For others, ambition becomes more pragmatic.

“My priority now is being employable,” says the anonymous marketer navigating redundancy and childcare costs. “Not necessarily doing the job I love most – but making sure I can support my family.”

That recalibration has consequences beyond individual careers.

“It’s made us rethink whether we can have another child,” she adds. “Not because we don’t want one – but because the system makes it feel too risky.”

One HR person actually said to me: ‘Marketers get made redundant all the time.’

Anonymous

Despite endless talk of inclusion, the fundamentals haven’t shifted enough. B2B marketing remains male-dominated at leadership level in some industries. Maternity policies are inconsistent. Startups remain volatile. And marketing is still too often the first function cut.

“People talk about maternity leave as time off. But mentally, emotionally, professionally – it’s anything but. You’re still thinking about your industry. You’re still thinking about whether you’re going to be relevant when you come back. You’re still thinking about how exposed you are,” the anonymous marketer explains.

“What I’d say to CEOs is: if you have roles available, offer them. Train people. Support them to stay. Don’t just comply with the bare minimum of the law.”

Boesen puts it more bluntly. “Give women the same runway you’d give a man. The same budget. The same trust. Imagine what would happen if you actually backed us fully.”

As Stuckert reflects, the balance is never perfect. But it is possible when organisations recognise that leadership does not exist separately from life.

“You don’t stop loving your career when you become a parent,” she says. “You just stop believing that success should cost you everything else.”