I've worked here for 11 years. When I started, I worked for a woman who was formerly the head of a very big group. Looking up in the organization, I saw a few women who were up the management chain (though none other than my boss in my own management chain). Now, there are far fewer, and it isn't clear as to why. On the positive side, the lack of women in leadership has been acknowledged by the top people in my organization, and there is a lot of thought going into what to do and how to change the organization's management from a 40-something-wife-at-home-white boys club like it is now. As for maternity leave, I have found both men and women (and especially men) to be supportive of parental leave. In fact, I've seen male managers be more supportive of taking the full leave (20 weeks) than women managers.

In the 7 years that I’ve been with this company, I’ve received several promotions and felt that I was treated equally to my male and female peers with regards to base pay and bonus. At times it is difficult to find work life balance with many exciting and big projects, but the culture is typically flexible so it’s all about the quality and impact of your work and not about the amount of time you are in the office. The environment is collaborative and my ideas are heard. Affinity groups have been a great way to connect with others, providing safe forums for discussion, and for networking. I would recommend this company to other woman as a great place to work- and one that is continually looking for ways to do even better.

I worked for 3 years before I was able to use the maternity leave at MSFT. I had an incredible support system where my manager was a woman and her manager was a woman as well (though childless at the time). They scraped the barrel to find as much time off necessary to give me a full 5-month paid leave plus suggested to come by the 6th month as part time. They paid for my pump through the Women's Leadership's Council funds and installed a lock in my office for privacy. Where else could you find such flexibility? Granted I had female managers but where else would you find 2 female managers to begin with? It was blissful.