Work-life balance

Despite the fact that more than half of professional school graduates are female, women still represent only 8 per cent of top earners at Fortune 500 companies. According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, the reason is that the career-track structure does not give women a chance.

Ms Hewlett is an economist and the founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy. She is also director of the Gender and Public Policy Program at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. She is the author of Baby Hunger, which addressed why nearly half of high-achieving women did not have children.

In her new book, Off-Ramps and On-Ramps, (reviewed by the FT) she surveys 2,400 women and finds more than a third of highly qualified women “off-ramp” – voluntarily leave their careers to devote themselves full time to family. Others “take scenic routes” – a reduced-hour or telecommuting job or a flexible work arrangement. Though most of them intend to “on-ramp” by returning to full-time work, only 40 per cent actually do – in part because many of today’s increasingly demanding careers don’t tolerate gaps in a resume or anything less than a 70-hour work week.

Ms Hewlett answers FT.com readers’ questions below.

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The reviewer of your book in the FT is in a senior job at Merrill Lynch, and she promoted the bank’s flexible work arrangements and other policies designed to help women. But the Observer column of the same edition of the FT commented that Merrill Lynch is reducing sick leave to a few days. Do you think that such policies for all employees have a disproportionate impact on women with children?
Heather Grabbe, Brussels

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Clearly new and imaginative flexible work arrangements are particularly effective when they are embedded in a generous benefits package – sick leave, health insurance, paid vacation etc. Having said that, flexibility in and of itself can be a huge boon for working parents dealing with a sick child. If both mothers and fathers have access to flexibility they often can share the load here and make sure a child is not left on his/her own. Britain’s right to flexibility legislation (2003) as well as new private sector policies, have been instrumental in making sure that many more British men and women have access to flexibility.

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How does a woman get back on-ramp after scenic routes? My experience has shown that no matter who makes magic of your CV or how many ideal jobs are out there, the doors open and slam in quick succession. Your approach would be much appreciated.
Sharon March, Luxembourg

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Three pieces of advice: seek out some of the new on-ramping programmes, which explicitly target people like you (there are various case studies in my book – Booz Allen, Lehman Bros, Goldman Sachs); also, business schools are helpful in this regard – Tuck (Dartmouth) and Wharton have short on-ramping programmes that help on-rampers gain access to employers; and then there is the internet. Try ”Momcorps” and ”On-ramps.com” for help and assistance. Hope this helps.

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Your findings re women’s career paths in the business world are unsurprising albeit undefensible. However, experientially, I find that the same applies in British academia despite universities’ stated commitment to Equal Opportunities and the relative flexibility of academic work. Following a career in business and industry, I took a long career break to raise a family and return to higher education in Canada and the UK (BA, MSc and PhD) but despite making the shortlists occasionally, I cannot get a permanent post in British academia where, I conclude, ageism is alive and well! Do American women face the same hurdles in US academia?
Dr Franoise Boucek, Queen Mary University of London

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: As you point out, academic has a rigid and exclusionary career model, despite the inherent flexibility of academic work. In my book I present data on academia – culled from the US. This shows the pernicious effect of the ”tenure” system on career prospects for women. The tenure decision typically hits a woman in her mid-30s – precisely the time when child bearing and child rearing responsibilities are at their height.

The research shows that any occupation that has an ”up or out” career model and insists that the steepest gradient of a career needs to occur in the decade of one 30s, has bad results for women. (The legal profession and management consulting are other examples.) Women need second chances at later points in their lives. This is beginning to happen in some sectors. See case studies in book.

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I am currently working with some MBA colleagues on a project addressing women and leadership. Literature on the subject suggests that there are minimal differences in leadership style between men and women and even less differences in leadership effectiveness. If anything, the suggestion is that women are likely to be slightly more effective leaders in modern corporations/companies/organisations.

Firstly, would you agree with any of the points above and secondly, if you do, what would you say are the main reasons for continuing evidence of a glass ceiling? And if I can sneak in one last question, how would you propose to smash that ceiling.
Tom Woolgar, Durham

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: The literature is clear on one point: women are potentially more effective leaders of modern corporations/organisations. This is because hierarchies have flattened, ”command and control” styles of management have become much less prevalent, and organisations these days tend to be much more successful when executives are good at consensus-building, team-work and creating ”buy-in”. These tend to be female strengths.

The reason why women’s progress has stalled – why so few of them are making it to the top – has much more to do with the rigidities of career paths than the inherent abilities of women. As I show in my book, two-thirds of highly qualified women either step out or step back for a period of years in their 30s. This effectively sidelines them. There is a huge need for more and better ”on-ramps” and ”acceleration lanes” so that women get a second shot at ambition. The 18 case studies in my book create a blueprint of how this can happen.

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Why has the market not found a solution to this dilemma? Does it need more time to reach equilibrium, or does it suggest there is no solution?
Paddy Digan, Dublin

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Markets don’t always clear quickly or automatically – particularly when confronted with entrenched vested interest (in this case a group of powerful white males who are the beneficiaries of what I call the ”male competitive model” – see discussion in my book.)

Having said this, market signals are beginning to drive change in career models – tapping into the wider pool of female and multicultural talent is newly a prerequisite for competitive success in the global economy, and firms will ultimately respond. The main driver for change: demographic shifts. In my research I look at the global talent pool (all those with college degrees worldwide) and find that white men comprise only 17 per cent of the total. No wonder companies are figuring out how to retain and reattach women and minorities!

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Finland is famous for its family-friendly policies, the popular father’s leave and the mother’s 11-month maternity leave. Moreover, these 11 months can be prolonged to three years without fear of losing one’s job. Doesn’t this policy prove the contrary that what would be optimal for a modern society and well educated women? In three years one can be easily forgotten at a company department not to speak of the woman’s work skills and techniques that are put on jeopardy. What would be good examples of policies competitive companies ought to follow in order to ensure the retention of the brightest heads on-ramps?
Snia K Pereira Coutinho, Helsinki, Finland

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Finland’s parenting leave policies are indeed generous, among the best in Europe. In the US, new policies in the private sector are enabling women to take time out (off ramp) and then get back on track (on ramp.) See case studies on Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs in my book. Two to three years out of the workforce seem not to ”deskill” women as long as they have accumulated several years work experience before they take this break.

Important provisions in these new private sector policies are hard to replicate in the public sector. For example, on ramping programmes reward merit – ie high-performing individuals are preferred. They also increasingly include men. This goes some distance to make sure these programmes are not stigmatised.

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If men had babies instead of women, do you think the trends would be reversed and women would be dominating the top echelons of businesses?
Stephanie Pateman, NY

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Maybe so – children are at the heart of the matter. For 45 per cent of women ”spending more time with a child” is the main reason they leave a career. But children are not the only trigger. For 24 per cent of women an elder care crisis is the reason they opt out. And here there is some good news. It turns out that elder care responsibilities are more evenly divided between men and women (a 40/60 split) than child care responsibilities (a 30/70 split). So as our population ages, perhaps the division of labor will become more equal and women will have a better shot at rising to the top!

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In May 2002 my baby girl was born and I became a full-time father. Now at five I would really like to get any job for four hours in the morning and get paid 7’000 NIS (£865) per month. I have a degree in economics and an MBA and I do not have offers at all.
Silvio Neuberger, Tel Aviv, Israel

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Take a look on the internet. These days there are a host of sites: Momscorps and On-ramps.com for example, that offer flexible and remote work. Various business schools are also newly developing on-ramping programmes. See ”Back in Business” run by the Tuck School at Dartmouth.

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I am a recently married 31-year-old thinking about kids. I’d like a family but I’m also very keen on my job as a city banker. Do you believe it’s realistic to think that a husband can split parenthood on a 50/50 basis for the first years of a child? And is this the most efficient way to share responsibilities? Your thoughts would be highly appreciated.
Ines, London

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: My ”gem” of a husband does 35-40 per cent of the housework and childcare – and he’s unusual. So I wouldn’t count on a 50/50 split. The good news is that the financial sector is gearing up to accommodating women who need to step back for a short amount of time (say 2-3 years). Check my book for case studies of the new ”Encore” programme at Lehman Brothers and ”New Directions” at Goldman Sachs. This type of arc-of-career flexibility could make all the difference to your options on the family front.

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Isn’t it that the problem is not with women’s career choices, companies’ policies, etc but with men’s weaknesses? Most of my friends are Harvard-educated professional women, myself included, and yet we see that almost no successful alpha men we are attracted to can sustain a relationship with an alpha woman – they go for the grey mice. Given the choice between personal happiness as a woman and a business career, many of us choose the former. What can be done to make men less afraid of successful women?
Anon

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: The data in my book shows that 20 per cent of women with extreme jobs are married to at-home men. They’ve taken the Carly Fiorina route and persuaded a man to stay home and create some TLC. So maybe things are changing. One thing is for sure: jobs at the top come with outsize demands as well as outsize rewards these days, so it remains surprisingly difficult for both a husband and wife to sustain a high-profile career.

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Why is performance or seriousness in a career judged by the hours worked? Why do we have to work 50-70 hours a week to show we mean business? Why don’t the fathers feel the same pressures for parenting like the mums obviously do?
Anita Jain, Geneva

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: The data in my book show that men feel much less guilty about putting in 10-12 hour days at the office and rarely seeing their children. The good news is, companies are beginning to ”chunk out” high-impact work so as to create jobs that are part-time but have traction. Ernst & Young is an example of a firm where flexible and reduced-hour jobs are now on offer and part of a career ladder. Individuals at this firm can now progress to partner on a part-time schedule.

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Is it possible for a woman to achieve a high position in investment banking?
Kate, Coventry, UK

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Absolutely. Progress has been slow in this sector partly because of long hours and fierce performance pressures derail women in their 30s – when they have children. However, companies such as Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs are creating on ramping programmes – seeking to reattach women who have taken time out. Indeed, the new chief diversity officer at Lehman Brothers herself works a four-day week and is a great example of new flexibility at the top.

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Who do you think should take responsibility for promoting work-life balance for a woman? Can government do much to encourage women, their partners, and/or businesses to provide women a chance to reach their potential without curbing business and family harmony? Does it matter whether women represent 8 or 80 per cent of Fortune 500 top earners?
Bottir, London

Sylvia Ann Hewlett: Companies need to be on the cutting edge here. Given the demographic shifts of our age a ”war for talent” is heating up and employers are newly figuring out how to retain – and reattach – talented women. But government can also play a part. The 2003 flexibility legislation in the UK has done much to legitimise flexible work arrangements. Indeed, an additional 1m British mothers and fathers are seeing more of their children as a result of these new laws.