If the issue is dropout because women are forced to make a decision between career and caring for/watching their child grow surely we can come up with a better solution?
While there are some upper limits, parents usually get their full salary paid by their employer, who in turn get refunds from the government. There is a variation on this giving slightly more time off for less pay as well, plus some exceptions for single mothers, adoptions etc.
It's not a perfect system, and it's not created with the mother's career in mind, but it does accomplish some things:
-The father spends time with the newborn; if he chooses not to use his third of the parental leave it disappears. This leads to more involved fathers, and also help to even the score on who tends to the house.
-Parents can't be fired or refused employment for being pregnant. You also don't have to disclose this during interviews.
-Companies knows that having kids is natural, while smaller ones may struggle to find replacements during parental leave, the system is flexible enough to allow people to work a few days a week if they choose to. This is up to the parents to decide, employers can't dictate what they should do.
-Employers know that employees taking parental leave will come back, so any experience and work-related knowledge isn't lost just because they are having kids.
With 9-5 this doesn’t work. Remote work helps alleviate some of these issues, but not all. There need to be organizational innovations to make this happen.
Ask to work 4 ten hour days, for instance instead of 5x8. The state will force the employer to pay overtime for the hours past 8 in a day.
Perhaps one solution is to offer a safety net i.e. grant, incubator, accelerator etc. for women in this position that allows them to create the job that works best for them? I suppose not everyone is cut out for it but this will at least encourage some.