In my view gcwc has given the most practical and realistic view. It is a kind of natural phenomenon(though not true for everybody). There is a book by the Institute of mass communications which states that women are there in many ads where they have no business to be in for "emotional reasons". In my management course, my female partner always used to get a better response whenever we were out for project work.
I have even seen situations where the entry of a stranger from outside has "electified" the office for want of a better expression. If a stranger can do that, think of what permanent employees can achieve. Nothing wrong in the right proportion.
On a serious note, Veteran actor Dev Anand once said "Nothing can give you a better high than your own work" or in the words of Maxim Gorky "When work is a pleasure, life is a joy. when work is a duty, life is slavery"-
http://mypyp.wordpress.com/
Maybe women can augment the work pleasure in some cases and make slavery bearable in some others and enable a kind of poetic justice. Being a bit of a poet myself, I can vouch for the fact that alongwith children and nature, they definitely inspire better poetry.
All that apart, they can be more versatile, methodical and display better emotional intelligence. Its a pity that some of them have to sacrifice their careers for being homemakers-wasted talent in my view.