The persistent underrepresentation of women in executive roles remains a critical issue in contemporary organizations, particularly when intersecting with motherhood. Despite growing awareness and institutional commitments to gender equality, female leaders continue to encounter systemic barriers that hinder their career progression, especially when navigating family planning decisions. The "career-motherhood dilemma," the tension between professional advancement and the desire to become a mother, is a complex challenge shaped by sociocultural expectations, organizational practices, and internalized pressures. Through qualitative interviews with women in top executive roles - specifically CEOs and CFOs, this volume explores the role of leadership and motherhood, investigating the factors that influence the decision to become a mother and how this decision interacts with career trajectories. This book enriches the understanding of female leadership by shedding light on how motherhood shapes career trajectories at the executive level. By amplifying the experiences of female leaders, it offers both theoretical contributions and practical implications - calling for more inclusive organizational norms and providing actionable insights for policymakers and firms aiming to support women in balancing leadership and motherhood without compromising career advancement. Barbara Sveva Magnanelli is Associate Professor of Accounting and Management at John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. She is the former Chair of the Department of Business Administration.

She has been teaching courses such as Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, and Corporate Governance since 2011. She also worked as a consultant from 2007 to 2013. Her research focuses on corporate governance issues, with particular regard to the board of directors, gender diversity in boardrooms, and financial statement fraud. More recently, she has started to develop a keen research interest in female leadership. She regularly publishes her work in high-quality academic journals and presents working papers at major academic conferences. Elisa Raoli is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the Catholic University of Milan, where she teaches courses in financial accounting and corporate reporting. She has held research and teaching positions at LUISS and George Washington University. Her research focuses on financial accounting, corporate governance, earnings management, and international accounting standards.

She has published extensively in national and international journals and has presented at major academic conferences across Europe. Dr. Raoli is also a qualified Associate Professor (ASN, 13/B1) in Italy.