I just hope more companies will begin to realize the value of women, and allow them to reach their true potential. At the moment, you have to be very careful about how you start off in a company, because that can seal your fate so to speak. I think the upward trend won't be very great within the next 10 years, but I imagine that things will be much better a few decades from now. One of the problems is that it is not just a male oriented workplace that is trying to hold onto their high-paying jobs, but a general culture of sexism and discrimination against women that feeds into the workplace; I don't think there is going to be real, long-lasting change until that goes away.
Systemic and institutional discrimination against women will continue to pervade, even in progressive and more equal-opportunity "meritocracies" because of the common standard of valuing experience over potential. And, so long as women (and minorities, and the handicapped/disabled/whatever term is appropriate, sorry I've lost track) do not have the same opportunity of experience, they will never have the same opportunity of advancement.
And, the whole childbirth thing - all other circumstances being equal, women who are out of the workforce for months or years at a time to birth and care for children will fall behind in the changing face of how work is done (software programs and other tech change every year, for example). I would expect this would apply less so in the US, what with your six-weeks-and-back-to-work laws, which (correct me if I'm wrong) I understand are still in place...
That's not to say we should accept the current situation - we shouldn't - but, rather than expressing anger at the system we should find other "from the inside" solutions that may be more effective - networking, mentorship, etc. And, I think a lot of women are already going this route.
