A Message from Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands
Simmons School of Management Alumnae Association presents
The SOMAA Speaker Series Women in Transition - Wealth and Wisdom
Wednesday, November 15, 2006, 5:00 pm - 8:30 pm, Simmons SOM, 451 Marlborough Street, Boston, MA,
Register online here.
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Welcome
SOM – A thought leader on women, leadership and management
Influencing public debate on issues affecting women as leaders and managers is a strategic priority for the School of Management. Below I share a rebuttal that Professor Mary Shapiro wrote in response to a provocative article, “Don’t Marry Career Girls,” published by Forbes.com in August, 2006.
Once again it's time to blame the woman for the stress in a two-career marriage.
The latest assault on working women was published on August 22 in a Forbes magazine article by Michael Noer warning men not to marry a “career girl” lest they risk a dirtier home and increased chances of divorce and spousal cheating. The article created a firestorm of response that resulted in Forbes yanking the article off its website the following day.
Regrettably, the article still fuels gross misperceptions about the realities and attitudes of men and women in today’s workplace. Once again, women’s employment is viewed as a personal “lifestyle” choice, rather than an economic one. And once again, certain facts are ignored: that most women work because of financial necessity; that many men want to share family responsibilities, and that what studies say about white privileged women cannot be extrapolated to describe the entire female population.
The reality is that most women work because they need to. In a recent survey of attendees at the 2006 Simmons School of Management Leadership Conference in Boston, financial security was the most frequently cited reason why the 400+ female respondents worked. In America, where the median income for full time working women is barely $30K, the choice to work is overwhelmingly an economic one. What is true for white privileged men and women is not true for the majority of people. Economic realities, motivators, and expectations are very different across different socio-ethnic groups.
Besides, no one said being in a two-career marriage is easy. I don’t know of one working woman who doesn’t periodically exclaim, “I wish I had a wife!” Clearly, at least for the white middle and upper middle classes, husband and wife roles have been in a state of flux. Divisions of labor are being renegotiated. Interestingly, in a 2005 study by Simmons and Bright Horizons, 84% of respondents (male and female) define themselves equally or more in terms of family as compared to work. Men, particularly younger men, no longer solely define themselves by their jobs.
Due to space limitations, this article in continued online at alumnet. Click here to read the full story.
We welcome your feedback on these reflections. Please send email to: somdean@simmons.edu.
Posted on July 18, 2006 5:06 PM
