That is complete and utter nonsense. No company thinks in such bizarrely convoluted terms when hiring, and your entire theory depends on there being a shortage of professionals in a field. There certainly aren't any shortage of professionals in engineering, or pretty much any field I can think of. Company A will hire whomever is best qualified, period. Btw where are the statistics about the large numbers of professional women leaving the workforce to SAH?
It doesn't matter how good or noble you think your reasons are for quitting engineering to go into teaching....you are quitting engineering. The message will be that women can't hack it in engineering when the going gets tough. Nice stereotype you are feeding into.
There are more people willing and capable to work then there are available jobs. So if someone quits company A for whatever reason then they go to that pool of people and find a replacement. You logic only makes sense if we were at 100% employment and there were no replacements out there. There are plenty of replacements at all levels of experience.
You are also forgetting that it is very rare for someone to SAH the rest of their lives. For everyone woman that leaves to SAH another woman is leaving SAH to return to work. Even if she is 40 when she does that she still has 25 more years to spend in the working world.
Edited to add another thought.
The flexibility of choosing whether or not to SAH can actually been seen as a good thing for the economy. When the economy is bad more woman choose to SAH, meaning you have less people vying for jobs in an already glutted market. When the economy is good more woman choose to continue to work. So you have a flexible work force who with some incentives will stay in the work force if needed but also have no problem leaving the workforce if not needed.
Howso? Since when is leaving a successful career to take on another equall difficult career sending the message you can't hack it? It's not like I'm just quitting working and dropping out. Teaching is also a difficult career. It's one thing for me to use what I know. It's another for me to figure out how to teach it to someone else and motivate them to learn it.
Each generation of engineers has always taught the next generation of engineers. What has changed is how that is done. Engineering used to be taught via on the job training. Now it's taught in the classroom. You'd be surprised at how many engineers I work with moolight as professors. It's quite common for engineers to teach. What is different about me is I'm going to actually swtich careers. However, I will be making the switch after having a successful career and at a time when moving on to carreer number two is actually quite common.
But the fact remains you are leaving a prestigious career for one that is seen as 1) a traditional career path for women 2) less prestigious.
You are also showing the women below you that older women can't hack the heat. You, of all people, should remain in the ring and fight your way through this so the younger women can then have a path to the top. Instead, you are clearing out, leaving a gaping hole and no role model for younger women.
You are feeding into typical stereetypes: that older people can't work as many hours, are tired, don't have fresh ideas, and are not worth pay they've earned over the years. You're also making it easy for companies like yours to hire younger people and pay them less.
Shame on you. You really have no right to come here and blast women for wanting to SAH. You're doing the same thing. You're just couching it in "noble" terms.
LOL, so the men who retire at 50 are saying older men can't handle the heat? Nope.
Are you aware of the fact that people average three careers in their lifestimes? Moving between jobs is pretty common. Especially a move to teach what you know.
Teaching is a stereotypical career choice for women. Every time you do something that reinforces a stereotype, you make things harder for other women (not that I believe such nonsense, but that was your reason for why women shouldn't leave work to SAHM so it applies here just as much).
Um, yea basically. Men who leave "hard" fields like engineering or science early on to teach are looked on as not having been able to handle the heat of higher pressure field for the long-haul. It is seen as a kind of easy out while still have the chance to earn some money.
So then you are AGAINST some of the choices that women have today? Are you only for the choice of WHERE and WHEN to work? If you are for a myriad of choices for women then SAH should be just as valid a choice as any other.
I think choice is one of the best things to come out of the feminist movement. But as I see it the more choices women have the better off we all are.
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It doesn't matter how good or noble you think your reasons are for quitting engineering to go into teaching....you are quitting engineering. The message will be that women can't hack it in engineering when the going gets tough. Nice stereotype you are feeding into.
Laura
You are also forgetting that it is very rare for someone to SAH the rest of their lives. For everyone woman that leaves to SAH another woman is leaving SAH to return to work. Even if she is 40 when she does that she still has 25 more years to spend in the working world.
Edited to add another thought.
The flexibility of choosing whether or not to SAH can actually been seen as a good thing for the economy. When the economy is bad more woman choose to SAH, meaning you have less people vying for jobs in an already glutted market. When the economy is good more woman choose to continue to work. So you have a flexible work force who with some incentives will stay in the work force if needed but also have no problem leaving the workforce if not needed.
Edited 7/18/2004 8:11 am ET ET by texigan
Each generation of engineers has always taught the next generation of engineers. What has changed is how that is done. Engineering used to be taught via on the job training. Now it's taught in the classroom. You'd be surprised at how many engineers I work with moolight as professors. It's quite common for engineers to teach. What is different about me is I'm going to actually swtich careers. However, I will be making the switch after having a successful career and at a time when moving on to carreer number two is actually quite common.
You are also showing the women below you that older women can't hack the heat. You, of all people, should remain in the ring and fight your way through this so the younger women can then have a path to the top. Instead, you are clearing out, leaving a gaping hole and no role model for younger women.
You are feeding into typical stereetypes: that older people can't work as many hours, are tired, don't have fresh ideas, and are not worth pay they've earned over the years. You're also making it easy for companies like yours to hire younger people and pay them less.
Shame on you. You really have no right to come here and blast women for wanting to SAH. You're doing the same thing. You're just couching it in "noble" terms.
outside_the_box_mom
Are you aware of the fact that people average three careers in their lifestimes? Moving between jobs is pretty common. Especially a move to teach what you know.
Laura
I think choice is one of the best things to come out of the feminist movement. But as I see it the more choices women have the better off we all are.
Jenna
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