Personal stories demonstrate how it can be hard for a mother to climb to the top of the ladder if she tries to give to her children what she gives to others at the office. Official Army policy dictates treating men and women the same, except for maternity leave. Women leave the Army before men, citing children as their priority. Men leave over pay, promotion, job security. For all of its successes in opening job opportunities for women, feminism has never surmounted that one small detail.
Babies change the equations.
Not just babies. Babies grow into school children. School children become teenagers. This doesn't mean a mother can't work, but it does mean that the more demanding the job, the less she has left over for her children. Children chill when the hearth grows cold.