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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"I think for the most part, private law firms still don't allow women to work pt or at-home nearly as much as companies and the government do."
Jorvia would have to answer for Manhattan. In DC, it's very common in private firms these days.
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You have also stated that <
Depends on whether I made enough to be charged taxes. What's the limit these days?>>
I am asking the question as if there was a demand and you did receive compensation.
PumpkinAngel
I don't know....that's why I am asking.
PumpkinAngel
Isn't there also a large unpaid work force out there?
PumpkinAngel
Where are you going to get the *other* stuff the family needs? Stuff like braces and vaccinations and education and tonsillectomies?
Or...y'know....taxes on the property that all this stuff is growing on....The money to BUY that land in the first place.
Karen
"Dear Whoever Makes The Credit Sequences: We are all really, really over the creepy head-turning thing. I swear. We really are. If we ever want any more creepy head-turning, we'll be sure to tell you. Everyone looks uncomfortable doing it, it makes everyone's smile look dead-eyed and soulless, and you really must stop. Make them put on a puppet show. Make them do the Macarena. I would prefer anything to being further terrorized by all the head-turning.
Miss Alli
Karen
"Veronica: "I hate fake deer too. Every time I see their stupid fake-deer faces I want to grab a shotgun and go all Cheney on 'em." Sure, but since fake deer don't talk, they won't
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"Wow, I haven't checked back in too often, but boy does that say a lot."
Indeed it does :)
"With all due deference to the SAHMs on this board who are doing what is best for their families, and who are willing and able to take on the financial responsibilities of raising their own kids should the necessity arise........ you have made me very very proud today to be a Working Mom."
Your welcome!
"I can't really imagine what better than "I don't do what is best for my family as a whole, I just want to do what I want to do."
I think you are confusing "should the necessity arise" with "I don't do what is best for my family as a whole, I just want to do what I want to do." IMHO, I don't think there are many SAHM's who wouldn't return to the workforce in the event that they were forced, no longer had a choice, should the need arise, etc. The difference here is that many SAHM's (including myself) are *not* forced and *do* have a choice. In other words, the *need* has *not* arisen. Do you see the difference?
"- to differentiate practical versus militant in either camp."
The only militant here is you, in that you are clearly insinuating that having a WOHM and/or two WOHP's is what is best for *every* family.
"What is particularly disturbing is the sexist stereotypes that this type of attitude persists."
The only persisting sexist stereotypes here are your own.
"Can you imagine your DH saying he wouldn't work unless he was forced to?
Absolutely! If my book became an unexpected and overwhelming success sometime in the future, I would absolutely not expect him to continue to work if that was his wish. In our situation, it simply isn't necessary/not a necessity to have two incomes. One income, yes. Two incomes, no.
Is there some reason why both parents necessarily need to do paid work/be part of the workforce if it isn't a necessity? If so, why? Sure, if they both choose to work regardless of the necessity that would be fine too, but clearly the key here is *choice*. As long as people are taking care of their families and doing what they choose to be doing, what exactly is the problem?
"But of course, that would be different wouldn't it?"
No, it's no different at all, hence the reason why I made the statment, "The only persisting sexist stereotypes here are your own." Some families have a SAHM, some have a SAHD, some have two WOHP's, some have two WAHP's, etc. There are countless ways to arrange a family, all of which are equally valid, viable, legitimate options.
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