“Marissa Mayer Is Wrong.” “Horrible Bosses: Marissa Mayer’s Ban on Telecommuting at Yahoo Won’t Work.” “Marissa Mayer’s Work-From-Home Ban Is the Exact Opposite of What CEOs Should Be Doing.” These headlines reflect popular responses in the blogosphere to the Yahoo CEO’s decision to end work-from-home arrangements companywide.

I can understand what’s behind these opinions. Mayer’s announcement of Yahoo’s new telecommuting ban comes when many companies are moving in the opposite direction, for two reasons. First, multiple studies have validated the fact that home-based workers are more productive than office workers under most circumstances. Second, studies have also shown that it’s more profitable for companies to increase retention of women and move them into senior roles. Though workplace flexibility is not exclusively a women’s issue, these facts have led many employers to increase work-from-home options, not decrease them. According to the Families and Work Institute, 63 percent of employers allow telecommuting, almost double the percentage from 2005.

That said, I’m not sure we can judge Mayer so harshly at the front end of her decision. There may be more to this story than meets the eye. She was brought in to try to help a company in need of a turnaround. She’s a star in the industry, recruited for her track record. Can’t we trust that maybe she’s making the decision for reasons we don’t know? As the CEO who has come in and done an analysis of her company, she’s made the decision that at this time, there is a specific need for face-to-face interaction and collaboration on a daily basis for the future success of her company. I would give her the ability to do what she thinks she needs to do without judgment.

I say this even while knowing that Mayer’s decision runs counter to what we’ve learned from our work at Bentley’s Center for Women and Business — that companies that are trying to retain, support, and promote women focus on creating flexibility programs and opportunities to work from home, not on cutting them. Yet we’ve also learned that the same strategies don’t work for every company or every industry at every point in time. The center is all about helping organizations go from conversation to action, and showing possible action steps. One of them is creating a flexible workplace. But you also have to give companies the ability to make the decision about what works for what they’re trying to accomplish, what the culture needs, and what they need to do to create a turnaround. And then we as workers need to say, is that the culture that works for my life?

For the rest of the article, visit Bentley University’s IMPACT blog.

Kathy Caprino interviews Betsy Myers for her new series on Women, Leadership, and Vision for Forbes.

Read the article.

Founding Director of the CWB Betsy Myers cautions companies that, from a profit standpoint, it is in their best interest to find a way to retain pregnant women.

Read the article.

Betsy Myers, Founding Director of the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University, is featured throughout this Knowledge@Wharton article discussing how women executives run their business and personal lives.

Read the article.

Betsy Myers shares what she learned from President Clinton’s management style in this Washington Post – On Leadership video.

Watch the video.

Founding Director of the Bentley Center for Women and Business Betsy Myers offers expert commentary on Yahoo! appointing 37-year old mother-to-be Marissa Mayer as chief executive.

Founding Director of the Center for Women and Business Betsy Myers addresses the important shift in corporate thinking represented by newly appointed Yahoo chief executive and mother-to-be Marissa Mayer.

Read the full article.

Mayer Appointed Yahoo CEO

Yesterday, Yahoo announced the appointment of Marissa Mayer as its new CEO and she became the first ever pregnant CEO of a Fortune 500 tech company. Yahoo’s decision to look past Mayer’s pregnancy reflects a big shift in the way corporate Boards and executives think about work-life management.

There is no question that Mayer will do great things for Yahoo. She was hired as Google’s first female engineer and the company’s 20th employee in 1999 and is responsible for some of the search giant’s most iconic innovations, looks and products. Mayer has earned a CEO spot. Yahoo’s Board saw her as a key component in leading the way forward, and the fact that she is pregnant was simply not relevant.

Those of us in the women’s leadership space have been championing this idea for a very, very long time: That a qualified woman is just as able to do a given job as an equally qualified man. Women should not been seen as less able to do a job just because they may want to become pregnant and have a family. A proven leader at work will figure out how to manage her home life and family responsibilities.

I like to think the Yahoo Board trusts Mayer’s ability to manage her work and family lives in ways that will allow her to meet her responsibilities to both. Perhaps that is one of the most important messages we can take away from Mayer’s appointment — businesses need to recognize that employees are not just workers who exist from 9 to 5, but whole people with families and needs outside of the workplace. Slowly but surely, businesses are shifting their cultures to be more aware and supportive of the needs of employees in and out of the workplace.

It’s just in time, because male and female Millennials, many of whom are college students and young professionals, say they don’t want to assume leadership roles at work because of the difficulties in taking on extra responsibilities while staying present as a parent and spouse. Retaining and advancing women in the workforce is a business imperative; those organizations with more women in leadership roles are more profitable. However, there is an entire generation of employees saying they won’t work in the same ways their parents work. If that’s not a business imperative, I don’t know what is.

Executives and board members in the business world need to take note of yesterday’s news. Yahoo’s board said loud and clear that to drive their business forward they need someone with an unmatched skill-set and creative thinking. That woman is Marissa Mayer, and she happens to be pregnant. The board’s first concern was Mayer’s talents, and the second her gender. Mayer will not be pregnant forever, nor will she have a newborn forever. The board has shown their trust in her ability to make Yahoo a better company and to manage her personal life.

At the Center for Women and Business, we’re working to find ways businesses can better attract, retain, and advance women. We need to find ways to diversify business at all levels, but especially in leadership and C-suite roles. If you’re a professional, man or woman, with ideas about how we can begin to restructure the workplace to set women up for advancement, join our online Idea Exchange. This online forum will provide a space for employees to share their views and will enable business leaders to hear from employees.

Visit the Idea Exchange

Also this week, the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University launched our Idea Exchange. At the Center, we’re working with businesses who want to better understand the struggles of working women. In an effort to move toward solutions, we’d like to hear your ideas for improving the workplace so that women have the opportunities to stay on the leadership track.

Go to the Idea Exchange and review some of the ideas that have already been posted and post your own views on what it takes to create a corporate culture in which women have the support, direction and desire to stay on a leadership path.