HBR What's really holding women back?

[BolloxtoGender]

hbr.org/2020/03/whats-really-holding-women-back?fbclid=IwAR3SWZ0lXpJewRQKUojQLnFAbMSLerOzPzkvIggZ0XPrptwkivz_mG7eSY4&sfns=mo

What do we think about this article? Help me unpick please.

When I saw the title, I immediately wanted to say BIOLOGY. I only read half way through, was rolling my eyes already, and then jumped to the conclusion. Initial thoughts. Women and men do not suffer equally at work with the balance problem- to say so, in such a light bulb moment way, is kind of insulting. So many key logical fallacies.

Men from BAME backgrounds also have the same problems with work life balance due to caring responsibilities. That’s why consultancies fail to retain BAME men and women.

I like that article. It turns the pull of wanting to be at home with kids, into a push from a working environment who really doesn't value deviations from the norm. The pull and pressure of juggling home life is very real, but the push from not being valued liked you were before is what really makes a decision to walk away so much easier.
Its very real in large organisations that part time or less pressure roles take you off the promotion track, and that working a more than full time role and being a mother leads others to see you as "not a good example". I was strongly encouraged to go part time at one point for that very reason.

It's not rocket science, but is a nice balance to the idea that women are choosing to leave these roles without any push from the organisation.

That's a good exploration of the problem. I do think this is a generational thing too as we are really only three generations in of women working on a par with men, since things started to change in the latter part of the last century, this is taking time to filter through the prevalent culture.

Thanks OP. Really interesting.

That’s really interesting. It seems to be pointing out that liberal feminism is used as a way of avoiding engaging with the brutality of capitalism and failures of management.
My workplace suffers from poor performance management. Also from a lack of female leaders. This article has made me wonder: is the second issue a consequence of the first? And is my workplace’s focus on promoting women a way of avoiding looking at the underlying problem?

Loved the story of the man who fell in love with his baby and then passed all that emotion over to women. Well, I didn’t love it obviously but it sheds a lot of light on what’s really going on here.

Interesting article. I think the main premise, that society encourages gendered reactions to poor workplace management and overwork cultures, is very sound.

It is, fundamentally, about presenteeism. And I notice it a lot as a freelance working mother. There's a deep buy-in into the notion that good work takes a lot of time, possibly a phenomenon that has grown out of the relegation of the value of experience (a function of modern ageism).

The idea that everyone has to negotiate this "workism" and men are encouraged to negotiate it differently to women is rather insightful.

The bit that consistently pisses me off is the 'women take time off' from their careers to have children but men don't. Whose children are all these women having? Men's! The lack of recognition that both men and women are parents. How do men manage these long hours and travel and weekend working and late nights? Because they have someone else in their life to organise the 'wife work' - be it an actual wife or bought-in cover. Women are thought poorly of if they outsource their children's needs, but it's completely normal for men.