Why are burnout rates so much higher for working women than men? It’s a question leadership expert Meghan French Dunbar answers powerfully in her new book, This Isn’t Working: How Working Women Can Overcome Stress, Guilt and Overload to Find True Success. Backed by real-world data and deep experience, French Dunbar reveals that burnout isn’t just personal—it’s systemic. Her message is clear: the traditional model of success is harming women, and rethinking it could transform workplaces for everyone.
In This Isn’t Working, she dismantles the long-held belief that burnout is a badge of honor. Women, she argues, are not failing—the system is. The result? A new leadership blueprint for sustainable success, better health, and healthier company cultures.
Burnout in Working Women Is a Systemic Crisis
French Dunbar’s personal story mirrors the experience of many high-achieving women. By all external measures, she was succeeding—yet inside, she was unraveling. The pressure to do it all eventually forced her to step down as CEO of the company she founded. Like many women, she had internalized the message that worth is tied to output. But as she writes, “this isn’t working.”
Her book highlights research showing that 43% of working women report feeling burned out, compared to 31% of men. Women in leadership roles are especially vulnerable—experiencing rising rates of depression and stress as they climb the ladder. And despite outperforming expectations, women are far more likely to receive negative feedback. The result? A deepening mental health crisis, made worse by outdated systems.
Redefining Success Beyond Performance and Perfection
French Dunbar calls out a cultural obsession with achievement that leads many women into what she calls the “hamster wheel of success.” In her words, “we’re so busy we don’t even know who we are anymore.” Her book urges a radical mindset shift: measure success by growth, not just performance. That shift—from performance goals to learning goals—frees women from toxic expectations and makes space for purpose-driven work.
Drawing from insights by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, she encourages women to focus on learning goals: not just getting the promotion, but evolving as a person. “You matter and you are worthy just as you are,” she writes. That kind of reframing doesn’t just protect women’s mental health—it leads to smarter, more resilient leadership.
This Isn’t Working—And That’s Exactly the Point
The ultimate goal of This Isn’t Working isn’t just to diagnose the problem—it’s to offer hope and tools for change. French Dunbar emphasizes that burnout is not a personal failure—it’s a cultural flaw. And once we acknowledge that truth, we can begin to design workplaces that allow everyone to thrive.
From clearer boundaries to healthier feedback loops, the solutions she outlines are already being practiced by forward-thinking leaders and organizations. When women stop trying to outperform broken systems and start changing them, everyone wins.
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