A memorable moment in American labor history was the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence, Mass., when, according to lore, predominantly female workers marched with signs reading, “We want bread, but we want roses, too.” The apocryphal slogan, revived in songs recorded in the 1970s and ’80s by Judy Collins and John Denver, came to mean, “We need a decent living, but we need a life, too.”
But that was then and this is now, when the dream of a life with time enough to smell the roses seems farther away than ever. Among professionals, work weeks of 50 hours or more have become commonplace. Among mothers, three-quarters with young children now work outside the home. Working parents combined are putting in about 28 more days of paid work a year than they did in 1970. As in 1912, the people who feel the loss of leisure time the most are mothers.
“Overwhelmed,”by Brigid Schulte, a writer for The Washington Post and a married mother of two school-age children, is the latest cri de coeur. Schulte asks whether her “scattered, fragmented and exhausting” life is just her or a byproduct of something bigger — something shared by millions of other time-starved women.
Schulte reports that the “ideal worker” norm prevails in the American workplace: an individual who has no family obligations, no interests that can compete with work — preferably no private life at all. People who don’t measure up to this ideal risk being treated like Kleenex: used up and then tossed aside.
Why have we come to this? And why, after decades of anguish, has so little been done to relieve these extreme pressures? “Overwhelmed”provides several answers.
Temporary employment has accelerated since the last recession, and new data shows that an upward trajectory will continue throughout 2014. According to CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI), more than 2.9 million U.S. workers were employed in temporary jobs in 2013, jumping 28 percent since 2010 and outpacing the 5 percent growth rate for all jobs.
To help workers identify opportune areas for their job search, CareerBuilder and EMSI compiled a list of the fastest-growing occupations and metros for temporary employment in 2014. The study uses EMSI’s extensive labor market database, which pulls from over 90 national and state employment resources and includes detailed information on employees and self-employed workers.
“Coming off of a hard-hitting recession, companies want more flexibility in their workforce to quickly ramp up and ramp down their businesses as needed. Temporary workers provide that flexibility,” said Eric Gilpin, president of CareerBuilder’s Staffing & Recruiting Group. “Temporary employment is growing across industries and metros, and providing great opportunities for workers to test-drive different work experiences and network with employers.”
Michigan has an estimated 261,400 women-owned firms, employing 247,600 and attributing to roughly $31,830,800 according to the fourth annual American Express OPEN State the of Women-Owned Businesses Report, a comprehensive report released today analyzing the 1997, 2002, and 2007 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s quinquennial business census, the Survey of Business Owners.
Similar to previous annual reports released this time last year, the unique analysis, reported by industry, revenue and employment size at the national and state levels, shares a new and nuanced investigation into the growth trends among the 9.1 million women-owned enterprises over the past 17 years.
Nationally, the number of women-owned businesses has increased 68% since 1997. Michigan is ranked 33rd (41.6%) in growth of number of firms over the past 17 years and 49th (20.1%) in growth of firm revenue between 1997 and 2014.
Below is a table comparing Michigan’s women-owned firms’ data to the national numbers:
Trend in Growth of Women-Owned Firms by State, 1997-2014
Choosing to take the appropriate measures to advance our careers is a significant decision. Ultimately, the right decision for one woman may be entirely wrong for another. The choice belongs to each of us. As we noted, industry asks and expects a lot. But the demands will only change when women push through changes so no one will be expected to sacrifice family for success in business.
After spending time in the corporate world, many women choose to open their own businesses so they have more control over their time.
Remember, opportunities routinely surface for those who are prepared. However, true opportunities need to be the right fit in terms of our personal visions and goals. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis pointed out, “If you bungle raising your children, nothing else that you do matters much.” She spoke the truth.
Successful corporate women manage the home front as well, if not better, than their careers. How they and their partners decide to tackle chores and responsibilities will be up to them. What they all share, however, are carefully considered plans and back-up plans for every contingency, from childcare to meal preparation, house work, laundry, yard work, extracurricular activities, transportation, and entertaining. When a woman leaves work and arrives home, she tells us that her spouse and children are her first priority, not more work!
Many mid- to senior-level businesswomen have never had a formal mentor even though mentoring is widely considered a critical component to career success, according to new trend research conducted by Development Dimensions International (DDI) titled,Women as Mentors: Does She or Doesn’t She? A Global Study of Businesswomen and Mentoring. And this is not for the reasons one would expect. According to the research, women who felt less-than-expert on a specific topic did not take on mentoring roles.
Since the benefits of mentoring and coaching are well documented, this research took a closer look at the less explored side of the issue surveying 318 businesswomen from 19 different countries and 30 different industries.
Given the number of women in the United States in senior-level positions, this survey size is statistically significant. The average age was 48-years old and 75 percent indicated that they were mid- or senior-level leaders. Tacy M. Byham, Ph.D., DDI Senior Vice President, Leadership Solutions stated, “A staggering 63 percent of the survey group never had a formal mentor and considering that 67 percent rated mentorship as highly important in helping to advance and grow their careers—this indicates a critical gap in businesswomen’s development.”
Are women afraid of rejection, protective of their authority and too competitive?
The data from this research breaks the stereotypes. Study results confirm that women don’t mentor because of one basic reason—they aren’t being asked. More than half the respondents have been asked to be a mentor a few times and 20 percent have never been asked at all. Women want to share their experience and provide career guidance, but other women are not seeking them out. And if they are afraid of rejection, the data shows they have no need to be. Seventy-one percent of women in the study report that they always accept invitations to be a mentor at work and reported they would mentor more if asked.
Contrary to the assumed rivalry and “Queen Bee” mentality popularized in movies like “The Devil Wears Prada,” our data show that almost half strongly agree that they would back one another, are more likely to sponsor each other and help other women rise to the top. Ranking lowest as a concern was “office politics” as an issue for only 8 percent of respondents and “internal competition” for an even smaller demographic of 2 percent.
What is holding women back from mentoring and coaching?
“Time” is the number one factor holding women back. Seventy-five percent of women reported that the time it takes to mentor most affects their decision to accept mentorships. Yet, only one in 10 chose not to mentor because it interfered with family time or other commitments. Criteria coming in second are “subject matter expertise” and “relationship to the mentee.” More than half—54 percent—site these as key considerations when deciding to accept a mentorship or not.
Only half of survey participants work at organizations that have formal mentoring programs. Of those that do, training is often ineffective. Twenty percent of women in our study rated the quality of the formal training they received as high or very high and another 22 percent didn’t receive any formal training at all. Compounding the problem, mentors aren’t being armed with the interpersonal skills (coaching, networking and influencing) they need to be effective in their roles.
Your office dress code should err on the side of conservative. According to the Lipstick & Lollipops, let these five rules with a bit of Coco Chanel be your guide:
What you wear is still relevant. And some of these studies, although a bit dated, are still holding true. The truth is that business has changed. But not as much as many people assume. Most businesses are still conservative – and many are moving towards ultra-conservative in a backlash against business casual.
The bottom line is that even today, the women who mimic the dress of the top executives in their organization still get promoted more and paid more.
If you want to be paid more and promoted, it may help you to think about your time at work in a different way. Instead of seeing work being an extension of who you are, start thinking of yourself as being on Broadway, playing the role of a ladder-climbing executive. And think, “What costume fits my role?”
Costume designers know that smart dressing involves sending subliminal messages. They don’t first think, “What colors will go with that back drop?” Instead, when casting the part of a successful woman climbing the corporate ladder, they think:
“What clothes portray a serious businesswoman who’s successfully climbing the ladder?”
“What judgments will people form when first seeing her based on the wardrobe?”
“What accessories and clothes would take away from the desired image?”
Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to ever win a major party nomination for Vice President of the United States, once said: “We've chosen the path to equality, don't let them turn us around.”
Today’s women are better educated than ever before. They have accumulated a wealth of skills, have learned to be adaptable, and have been told that they can do anything they want to do. The upside is that they have become independent, self-sufficient, and confident of their abilities. The downside is that they will readily admit they have not found the enjoyment or satisfaction they once imagined. The reason they attribute to the problem is that they have taken on too much.
These days, most women dance to a frenzied beat, believing just because they can, they think they should. We were taught if we were capable of doing something it shouldn’t be necessary to hire it out or look for help.
In an effort to squeeze even more into their nightmarish schedules, they make choices that actually undermine their health, their family life, their careers, and important relationships.
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