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The Glass Hammer Asks “Ambition and Motherhood: Can Women Have it All?”

May 5, 2011

The Glass Hammer, an award-winning blog and online community created for women executives in finance, law, technology and big business, came out with an article today called Ambition and Motherhood: Can Women Have It All?  Tina Vasquez, a well known freelance writer who frequently writes about women’s issues, discusses the book Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping TalentedWomen on the Road to Success, by Sylvia Ann Hewlett.   Hewlett’s book “explores the often ‘non linear’ career paths women take because of the still constant tug of domestic responsibilities.”   

According to Hewlett and to the Center for Work-Life Policy/Harvard Business Review Report, In-Depth Data Revealing Whether and Why Highly Qualified Women ‘Opt Out’, 37% of highly qualified women voluntarily quit their jobs for a period of time to raise their children, but 93% want to return to work. Unfortunately for many, “there is no workplace to return to” or the ones that do return suffer what the article calls the “mommy penalty” where it is “assumed their head is no longer in the game and they no longer care about their career as much as they did pre-child.”


Author of Undecided, Shannon Kelley, is a freelance writer and a leading expert in women’s expectations and dissatisfaction relating to their career choices.  The article quotes Kelley in a discussion about how it is impossible to have it all: “You can’t have a full-throttle career and 24/7 with your kids. So maybe you won’t have the time you want with your kids. Maybe you’ll have to dial back your career. But the fact is, when you’re doing A, by definition you cannot be doing B. Women are living–and working–in a world that was built by and for men. Workplace structures haven’t evolved to support this reality; they still operate as though each of their employees had a full-time spouse at home to take care of business. Whose life looks like that anymore? For most people, work isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity and the workplace needs to change to reflect that.” (For more information on Undecided authors, see our blog post Are you Undecided about being a lawyer?)


In spite of the challenges and trade-offs that are intrinsic to every mother’s career path, Vasquez notes that it is possible to “Change the System to Work for You,” and uses Montage Legal Group as a case in point.  Vasquez quotes Erin Giglia as follows:
 

“Defining ‘having it all’ is incredibly subjective. For me, it means having the ability to be there for my kids at events, helping with homework, and generally running the house on a daily basis, all while advancing my career,” Giglia said. “There really is no best practice when it comes to balancing career with family. I think the key to achieving success in career and family is finding a supportive work and family situation. Women need to have the courage to ask for what they want and the confidence to know that they deserve to have it.”

The Glass Hammer has been a favorite blog, and an inspiration to Montage Legal Group since its inception. Thanks to The Glass Hammer for including Montage Legal Group in the article!

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