**1. Introduction**

According to McKinsey report [1], playing an identical role by women and men in labour markets, would increase the global annual GDP by 26% (\$28 trillion) by 2025. However, despite widely acknowledged economic and social, moral value, the gender diversity is stalled [2].

One reason is evidence that gender diversity can bring the opposite results [3, 4]. For example, companies aiming towards gender diversity, apart from social justice, also expect higher collective intelligence, safer workplaces, better decision-making, maximized innovation and increased creativity: idea generation and exploration [5]. While in reality, they might face worsened group dynamic, increased conflicts and turnover, reduced team cohesion, labour productivity and motivation, as it is harder to cooperate for people with different background [3]. Moreover, women on leadership positions in certain cases face hostile attitude from the team or from the shareholders [3]. Thus, diversity should go hand in hand with inclusion.

Inclusion-related initiatives deal with employees' identity through readjusting managerially inspired discourses [6], for example by redefining level of access to decision-making, resources, and upward mobility opportunities for the marginalized group [7]. Discourses are narratives, known also as frames of reference, which affect understanding of facts and intentions [8]. They ease firms' decision-making; however, they represent a simplified perception of reality, full of stereotypes and assumptions [9]. Their prepositions is another reason of a stalled gender diversity.

The question how gender becomes stabilized and then is re-established in a work context is not new and exists in organizational studies since 1987 [10], providing actionable insight. Thus, before readjusting managerially inspired discourses, firstly, it is important to reveal their current statements, and define which stereotypes interfere with gender diversity strategy. Most of them are related to the motherhood, causing "maternity/motherhood penalty": discrimination in recruitment, promotion, training, remuneration, etc. [11].

The research relies on a person-organization fit theoretical base. It suggests that a person selects organization, according to personal needs, preferences, values, expectations and aspirations [12]. It assumes that to eliminate unproductive stereotypes, we should analyze two groups of frames of reference: those, which show women expectations, and those, which illustrate strategic human resource management approach.

The empirical part of the research is focused on the Russian context, where the problem of gender diversity exists above 100 years, since 1917. Nevertheless, it is also stalled, and maternity is among main reasons for negative stereotypes. Firms in Russia are obliged to grant young mothers a leave before and after childbirth for up to 1179 days, or even more in case medical institutions request earlier leave or later return. This obligation might occur unexpectedly for an employer, which is especially problematic in case of rare and unique employees. On the other hand, employees can voluntarily shorten the leave and return earlier, either to flexible or to full-time working schedule. Due to long period of leave and government allowance, maternal leave provides fruitful conditions for entrepreneurial start-ups, self-employment or free-lance work. Thus, many women decide not to return to the same employer, causing big share of negative stereotypes leading to stalled gender diversity.

The motivation for the research is a necessity to study women preferences in order to help firms with women's retention and inclusion, so employees and employers could benefit from gender diversity. We narrow the focus to the following research question: what affects home-centred women in their decision to return to the same employer after the maternity leave and what causes them to quit. The novelty lies in a discourse approach towards SHRM systems, which traditionally are treated from the positive or normative perspective. Apart from the SHRM stream, the findings contribute to the research related to gender fluidity, as well as diversity and inclusion in organizations.
