Women remain a minority in the Australian professoriate despite decades of equal opportunity policy. This article discusses the findings of an intensive case study that investigates why women's representation declines at the most senior academic levels. Through in-depth interviews with 24 women, the study explores the extent to which women's choices and aspirations are shaped by academic employment conditions that are ambiguous in their effects on women's capacity to reach senior academic roles. Responses suggest that women are slowed down, in ways that men often are not, by multiple conditions. The findings draw attention to the need for equity policies that support women to reach the professoriate before retirement becomes the preferred option.