Along with pay parity, should corporate promote women friendly work environment?
Lot of women miss on career progression because of family responsibilities and caring for kids. Timing wise, it becomes unmanageable, Shouldn’t there be flexible work options which will allow women to focus on career as well as family? Lets say we have women and men in the team. Men may work overtime but women will have work and family obligations too. When it comes to performance, men will have upper hand. Isn’t it unfair on her? Come on, think of your mothers and sisters. P.S person of color Male here. Have seen my mom struggling and see how my sisters struggle. I try to help my wife but its still chaotic at times.
There should be better paid leave programs for men and women, so both can take off time after a birth.
Yes agree. Both men and women.
Why not work with your husband to make sure you both get equal opportunity? Special treatment at work in terms of flexible hours or leaves specifically for women may not be a good idea.
I am a female with a young kid. It is a tough sell here because many choose to be childless or not starting family due to their work ambitions. I don’t think this cohort will be receptive even if they reflect on their mother or sister etc. I suspect the fertility rates for women in tech will go down, just like in other countries like Japan, Taiwan, Singapore etc. companies start giving options to freeze eggs so I suspect some women will give birth in their 50s in the future.
I think you’re thinking about it backwards. Men should be just as responsible for caring about their kids as women. And a lot of them are. Problem is, women are insane and keep marrying and popping kids with a bunch of men who want nothing to do with a family life and use work as an excuse to avoid that responsibility. Don’t breed with them and that attitude will die down.
You are regressive
We all will die down, unfortunately.
There are plenty of women that don’t want to have children, that’s on the increase actually. So when talking about women in the workplace perhaps don’t default to that stereotype. A better solution would be to give all people more flexible work options – both men and women equally – so that those that choose to raise a family aren’t penalized in their career for that, regardless of their gender
Many says men should be equally responsible to take care of kids but in reality it is not the case and that is why women are put in a tough spot. So what should be done differently to make male be truly equally responsible for family obligation?
First and foremost, decent paid leave for both gender right from the birth. If men can learn to take care of new norms and help the recovering mother, that’s a great first step towards taking up responsibility of the kid. They will be more confident to handle it later as well.
I can’t agree more! It is very important to learn how to take care of things right from the birth!! It’s learning/ building a habit of being parents.
I have a very different take on this :) The workplace was initially designed with the idea that men would go for work while the wives would stay at home and look after the house as well as the kids. This also meant that each family had one taxable income. In 50s/60s that was also enough to live the American dream (aka 3-4 children, dog, house with a backyard etc) But then, slowly things changed. Women too wanted the fulfillment of a career and financial independence(which was great!). The govt and corporates saw this as a big win win. More labor entering -> supply demand in favor -> lower wages (big plus for companies) -> dual taxes from each family (great for govt). However for an average hard working couple it has been a downhill even with two incomes ( children - meh, dog - maybe, house with a backyard - ha ha ha). Noone thought about the need to change the support structure for families. The arrangement has been clearly tough on children. Parents have been trained to believe that this needs to be managed by them only. In my opinion the work place rules need to be rewritten (needless to say taxation too but hopeless since tax has always been about sucking blood). You die working for these corporates, struggle to do whats right for yourself and family for most part. Women delay or choose not to experience motherhood altogether. What would you tell to yourself when you are on death bed? That you shipped a feature on fb that allowed people to more than just like a post?
Haha! When do you think the ‘workplace’ was invented?! You’re referencing a very small window in time, do your research about women in the workplace going back long time. And be aware that women have much less visibility than men in the eras you refer to - what about all the women working during Wars, and then all the female inventors, CS workers, NASA workers etc that history effectively stamped out but whom we’re only learning more about now.
@gupwhatever: Thanks for adding but my arguments still hold.
I really wish we didn’t need “having sisters, moms, daughters” as the only way to get people to humanize women. Just sayin.
This. So. Much. 👆🏻 It’s like men being incapable of seeing women as fellow human beings deserving of empathy, respect and equal rights unless they are related to one (sister, mother, daughter) or are having sex with one/married (partner, wife). Stop using that line guys.
You wish. But to some level I get it. It’s hard to connect with someone when you have no frame of reference. Dehumanization is actually pretty easy to achieve, it really doesn’t take long. There have been numerous studies to show how you can dehumanize just about anyone within weeks. All it takes is an isolated environment and an echo chamber. The problem is most cultures provide that echo chamber, and changing culture takes generations. I think women play a great role in creating the echo chamber themselves. Unknowingly, unwillingly, but as mothers, we do. It’s s joint responsibility to change that.
This. So. Much. 👆🏻 It’s like men being incapable of seeing women as fellow human beings deserving of empathy, respect and equal rights unless they are related to one (sister, mother, daughter) or are having sex with one/married (partner, wife). Stop using that line guys.
No, because men should have the same family obligations as women
That will be fantastic world to live in. But young kids lean more on mothers.
^ that’s what he said!