Hitting the "Mommy Wall"
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| Mon, 10-24-2005 - 11:19am |
I am surprised that this actually comes as a surprise to women trying to re-enter the workforce after taking time off to SAH. *Anyone* taking a not-so-brief hiatus from their career should expect the same treatment IMO . . . you're not going to be able to pick up right where you left off.
BTW - "hi" everyone! I've missed it here! :)
Women raise kids, lose careers
By TENISHA MERCER
THE DETROIT NEWS
Veronica Golubovic spent more than 20 years on the runways of Paris, Italy and New York as a designer for some of the most powerful names in fashion -- Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Karan and Perry Ellis.
But it was a three-year gap on her resume -- the hiatus she took after the births of her two children -- that garnered the most attention from prospective employers four years ago when Golubovic tried to resume her career.
She hasn't forgotten one recruiter's look of discomfort when she explained she was a stay-at-home mom. Or the way a top official at a retailer dismissed her during an interview with, "Oh, so now you don't know if you want to be a stay-at-home mommy."
"I came here thinking I've done so much, but it was very difficult," said Golubovic, 45, who eventually opened a designer clothing store in Birmingham, Mich., earlier this year. "I didn't think people would be hung up on it, but it was shocking and surprising. I couldn't believe their reactions."
Thirty years after women began joining the work force in large numbers, many are hitting the "mommy wall" when they try to return to work after having children.
They find it difficult -- if not impossible -- to return to the same positions they left, according to a recent study by the Forte Foundation in New York and the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Unprepared for the obstacles they face on their return, many opt out of traditional corporate jobs and move to smaller companies. Experts dub the trend the "female brain drain" and say the exodus is coming just as businesses need talented, experienced workers to fill the gap as baby boomers prepare to retire en masse, leaving the biggest labor shortage in history in their wake.
"This is a defining issue for women," said Monica McGrath, an assistant professor at Wharton, who spearheaded the study. "Women who leave as vice presidents are not coming back as vice presidents. Now is not the time for corporations to squander billions of dollars in talent and enthusiasm at their fingertips. This is a talent pool that organizations need. We have a voice at the table, and I would hate to see us lose that."
The study found that half of working mothers who returned to work felt discouraged by their employer. Eighty-three percent ended up accepting a comparable or lower-level position, while 61 percent changed industries. About 45 percent of the women surveyed started their own businesses, and 59 percent went to work at smaller companies. The study is based on interviews with 200 women, most of them with MBA degrees.
The results add more fuel to the debate about whether and how women can blend careers and family. Even as women are graduating from law, business and medical schools at almost the same rates as men, they find their careers shifting in very different directions from their male colleagues once they have children.
"They want to spend time with their children, and it can be very time-consuming," said New York-based Cindy Swensen, who coaches executive women on how to return to work after having children. "Volunteering at the bake sale is probably not going to help you re-enter the work force."
It's a strange phenomenon for a generation of women who were raised to break down barriers while "having it all" -- even if that meant delaying or postponing plans to have children to focus on their careers.
"We hear very few stories of people just stepping back in where they left off," said Joanne Brundage, executive director of Mothers & More, a Chicago-area support group for working women who postpone their careers to have children.
"Clearly, there is a price to be paid for not staying full-time, full-force in most professions," Brundage said. "I think women who are becoming mothers now have a different set of priorities than women did 15 to 20 years ago. Unfortunately, the message may change, but the environment stays the same."
It's a message Cynthia Aks wasn't prepared for. The first female surgeon to graduate from the residency program at Oakland General Hospital in Madison Heights, Mich., in 1990, Aks battled her share of discrimination from colleagues who didn't care to work with women surgeons, she said.
But after Aks, an emergency room surgeon, decided to have a family in her late 30s, she found it tough to regain the solid career footing she had before her triplets were born nearly 13 years ago. Forced to take seven months off for pregnancy complications, her contract was not renewed, she said, because the hospital didn't know how to deal with a female surgeon with children.
Aks resumed her career as a specialty surgeon, but at a huge cost: Her salary plummeted 60 percent.
"The perception is that you cannot juggle multiple hats effectively," said Aks, 49, who now owns a medical practice in Southgate, Mich. "I believe it's challenging, but you can. You can have high aspirations, be successful, have a family and still be involved. It's not equal for women, and I don't think it ever will be."
Southfield, Mich.-based accounting firm Plante & Moran offers tailored work arrangements such as seasonal work, telecommuting and contract employment to retain working mothers. The firm offers the options to management only.
"We want to accommodate people and their schedules," said Bill Bufe, partner and human resources director at the accounting firm. "We've had people who wanted to leave, but we wouldn't let them. We made things much more flexible for them and allowed them to continue to keep their toe in the water here and do what they needed to do in their family."
CHANGING FOCUS WHAT WOMEN CAN DO
WHAT WOMEN CAN DO
Tips for preparing to return to work:
Create a "re-entry" plan with specific goals
Foster a network for support while away from the work force
Volunteer while away and make sure that experience can be framed in business terms when you want to go back to work
Stay connected to colleagues
Maintain professional licenses and memberships and attend continuing education courses
Take classes to refresh knowledge and skills
Stay informed about the business implications of global and economic changes in your field
Secure contract work while away
Be realistic about how long it will take to re-enter the work force
Sources: Wharton Center for Leadership and Change, the Forte Foundation
CHANGING FOCUS
A survey of women returning to work after raising families found many shifted professional roles:
Accepted comparable or lower-level job: 83 percent
Changed industries: 61 percent
Changed functional role: 54 percent
Became self-employed: 45 percent

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Good question. I would be interested in the answer, as i see huge inconsistencies at my own office. some of our team leaders reward regularly and appropriately and some wont because the worker might have "an attitude" during a specific incident. when having "an attitude", imo, that person is simply sharing how they feel about an issue, as asked to.
also, as a person who sah with her children for years, i managed to nail a job, and sail past some people who were there for years, because of my work ethics, etc. my job isnt on the "career" level per se, however, it can be considered one, and is encouraged to be handled that way.
p.s. i have been paid according to my hard work. ie: getting raises outside the annual raise period, etc.
Oh, you want to start an eggroll with me too? I am so looking forward to the ensuing cattle march. Put up your spatula!
Here's a definition of employer: one that hires others to perform a service or engage in an activity. It is synonymous with manager, supervisor, and director. I may not have been using the exact same definition that Tinderbox wanted but I clarified it when I realized her definition and mine weren't the same. My dh has acted as an employer when he hired people.
I didn't say my dh couldn't be replaced.
I didn't say he sits at some level that has surpassed all other players in his field.
"Sales/consulting is as lucrative as the next job." What does that mean? I'm pretty sure that people who are employed as social workers would disagree. I'm pretty sure there are people working in investment banking who would scoff at the sales/consulting earnings scale.
I've tried but I just can't figure out what you are babbling about in regards to the colleagues and parties. (I have already expounded on the definition of employer above.) Are you sure you understand why I was mentioning my dh's colleagues and parties? I was indicating why it would be that I would possess the knowledge I have about a certain field without actually working in it. I don't get what you are calling conceited and silly. Since I don't understand "sales/consulting is as lucrative as the next job," I also don't understand the concept of "pretending sales/consulting isn't as lucrative as the next job because of a, b, or c."
Could you give me an answer without adding too much lasagna to it?
Same here. I got a job within 3 days of seeking one. Its not a corporate, *career* job either, but I had zero problems obtaining it. The fact that I had been at my previous career for over 10 years and actually took an early retirement from it probably helped any *negatives* of 2 years of sah.
Plus I am an employers dream. I'm never late, never sick, I work my a$$ off when I am there and dont bring personal issues into the workplace. I also interview really well-I think in all the years I've been in the working world, there were probably only a couple jobs I applied for and did not get offered.
dj
Dj
"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~
They have job reqs they are looking to fill; more than they can handle. A database with over 11k resumes or profiles in it that I would have complete access to. I'm sure it would be appreciated to bring in clients, but the function I would be doing would be finding people to fill the positions. The positions are engineering, mostly low 100's for salary and fee is 25%. Recruiters would be paid 40% of that fee. What you may be right on is the fact that there may not be a placment a month. I agree it takes time to build that up. I did actually do recruiting a few years ago. While I did like it, it was one of those kinds of companies that you describe. It went out of business. Poorly run.
This is a small company, but one that has made it through the last recession while others crumbled. I know you are in this kind of field, but I know of this company and some of the relationships it has and while I respect your opinion I really don't think it is true in the case.
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I do completely agree.
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Show me where I said I would prefer to barter cattle before I'd WOH. I never said that. I said my sister is raising a steer. I said money is not the only way to provide a roof and food for your children. I don't get what some woman said about me at a wedding has to do with any of this or how that makes me militant in any way. If someone admires you for your WOH, does that make you a militant WOHM?
I haven't a clue what your parenting tricks are, other than making sure your children get their sleep and taking off work to make sure your child turns in his homework. So I'm not sure how I am supposed to be contrasting your parenting tricks with mine. I do know enough about my dh's career and field to be able to say that a gap in employment doesn't necessarily reflect negatively on the candidate.
Actually, I did hire someone in a very similar situation. A woman that had SAH with 4 children and then gone back to school to finish her degree when the youngest started kindergarten. Not only did she have a significant gap since her last regular employment, but she also had zero practical experience. One point in her favor though, was the fact that she was at a disadvantage in the job market and she was willing to start at the bottom. Within a few years, she was invaluable and even though she only worked 4 days a week 8am-3pm (her stipulations) I paid her very well and consider losing her when I moved last year to be a huge loss. She was the kind of employee that would have been worth virtually any salary to keep her (and I told her to drive a hard bargain for her next position when I left).
Every new hire is a risk. It is virtually impossible to predict how somone will work out. One the practical side, most businesses operate within set budgets and the chance to get "more" for your money is not one to pass up. In my field, I don't see a continuing penalty. If someone's work is valuable, they will be well-paid in order to keep them. But hiring is another matter - there is no shortage of entry-level, unproven applicants. And even with prior experience, if the gap is too long (more than 6mo-1year, IMO) then the person must compete with the rest of the entry-level applicants.
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