You're strongly misinterpreting what I said. Of course she should be back in the same position after maternity leave. But when there's a team of people that re

You're strongly misinterpreting what I said. Of course she should be back in the same position after maternity leave. But when there's a team of people that report to you, they need to report to someone else while you're away for five months. Of course when you go back they'll be reporting to someone else until you're back up to speed on what's gone on for nearly half a year. Whether getting back up to speed takes 15 minutes or two weeks will of course very with respect to the position and the project. See also the edit I added to my original comment. Edit: and yes, in my experience and from what I've seen, women have a clear advantage in hiring. Note that I specifically said "hiring" advantage.