Supporting Working Parents and its Impact on Women

Women have to overcome the barriers of parenthood, often with minimal support from their employers; men tend to be applauded for holding down a career and managing their fatherly duties. At a basic level, there is a lack of support for families, working parents face many struggles, and if companies are to empower women they need to begin supporting working parents across the board, “As in an Olympic relay race, working parenthood depends on the ability to successfully navigate transition points — the hand-offs, the turns. Coming back from leave, welcoming a second or third child, or accepting a change in role or schedule are just a few of the transition points that can derail or strain the most competent working parent employee. That’s why concentrating benefits and programming on these critical points can yield significant return on investment.

Johnson & Johnson permits mothers and fathers to use their parental leave on a phase-back basis, ensuring not only time out of office but also a gentler return transition. As Peter Fasolo, global head of HR, states: The company doesn’t “dictate how someone should slice up those weeks” of leave. Other organizations offer counseling and support for parent employees who are changing roles or moving to a new office or region. Easing these pivot points can keep your employees more focused and engaged in the moment — and over the long haul” (Dowling, 2017). By supporting parents who are currently employed, it allows mothers and fathers to have the opportunity to work cohesively as a team without the additional stress of meeting the demands of work, and then falling short when situations involving their children arise that are out of their control. There is absolutely no way women can advance in the workplace until their role as primary caregiver is acknowledged as an archaic stereotype, organizations implement programs geared towards the challenges of working mothers such as support groups and peer coaching, and comprehensive initiatives that create an environment

where all parents feel comfortable enough to relay to their employers what they need in order to best perform in their designated office role.

Comments

Gender Gaps in The Classroom: Universities and Gender Bias

As a woman going through my academic studies, I always hungered to learn more. My hand has always been the first to go up, then one day I sat back and left my hand down and looked around me…I was the only woman raising their hand. It appeared that even in courses where the male professors were inclusive of women, and teaching content related to diversity and feminism, women were apprehensive to lean in and share their thoughts. I wondered why this was, and when embarking upon this project decided to look deeper into the issue of gender-bias and female success. According to a study conducted by the Columbia University Teaching Center, “while women now constitute 57 percent of U.S. college students, gender inequalities still persist in the classroom. Instructors were found to call on male students more frequently than female students and were less likely to elaborate upon points made by female students…The Columbia study also found that ma...

Women in Industry: WWII and Rosie Riveter

The work of women was pivotal to the success of America in the war, “ Women in uniform took office and clerical jobs in the armed forces in order to free men to fight. They also drove trucks, repaired airplanes, worked as laboratory technicians, rigged parachutes, served as radio operators, analyzed photographs, flew military aircraft across the country, test-flew newly repaired planes, and even trained anti-aircraft artillery gunners by acting as flying targets. Some women served near the front lines in the Army Nurse Corps, where 16 were killed as a result of direct enemy fire. Sixty-eight American service women were captured as POWs in the Philippines. More than 1,600 nurses were decorated for bravery under fire and meritorious service, and 565 WACs in the Pacific Theater won combat decorations. Nurses were in Normandy on D-plus-four” (NationalWW2Museum.org). Despite their outstanding work, women were forced to return home to care for their families, and relinquish their jobs ...

How Women are Promoting Eachother

Women often remain unheard within the workplace, particularly in business settings which are dominated by men. Often times women will remain silent, because they assume their ideas or opinions will be overlooked, or a male colleague will attempt to take credit for their proposal. According to Entrepreneur.com, women working within the Obama administration started using a method called amplification, “ When a woman proposed an insight or solution, the other women would repeat it in agreement to amplify the point. This helped everyone, both men and women, recognize the contribution coming from the woman who first proposed the idea” (Lee, 2017). We often see a competitive atmosphere in business among women, because they feel they need to be harder and less empathetic in order to advance at the same pace that their male coworkers can. The only way that women can create an atmosphere that will create opportunities for the advancement and promotion of women within the bu...

Strategies to Help Women Succeed in Business

Search This Blog