In a 2006 study of 1030 mothers, researchers found that working mothers reported lower levels of happiness, health, and satisfaction in their marriages than non-working mothers.
The reasons for this are varied, but the main source of conflict arises when women try to achieve work-life balance, but instead find themselves facing a work-family conflict. The conflict happens when demands of family life are incompatible with the demands of work life, often forcing women to leave the technical track entirely in an “all or nothing” proposition.
This pressure of career and family hits women at the mid-level especially hard. Mid-level career women face more challenges when balancing work and life, leading to more difficulty in career growth. The difficulty stems from the fact that there is a double push on these career women as they are forced to compete between two competing ideals: of mother and devoted worker.
Within IT companies especially, “flexibility” often means staying at work until midnight or being on call 24/7. In these types of companies, women are encouraged to work more and more hours and there is a constant expectation of increased productivity and constant availability. What’s more, women in technology feel a continuous need to upgrade their skills on their own time.
Flexibility is Key
While many women are leaving these technical fields, there are ways to encourage them to stay. A research study on the impact of flexible schedule by Dalton and Mesch shows that the introduction of a flexible scheduling program leads to higher employee satisfaction and reduced absenteeism.
In fact, a well-designed flexibility program is of paramount importance to working mothers – flexibility needs to be tied to the business strategy and shouldn’t be seen as a perk, according to Linda Golan, founder and CEO of Third Avenue Consulting (a firm that helps companies make strategic decisions about how to proactively retain, recruit, and reposition high-caliber talent).
If you’re looking for ways to create more balance in your own work and home life, implement these tips from the Anita Borg Institute’s TechLeaders Workshops:
- Think of work and life as unified spheres; work is part of life, and vice-versa. While our culture frames them as competing priorities, seeing them as unified and complementary spheres helps decrease the frustration of having to juggle work and family.
- Focus and prioritize. Identify the important goals you are trying to achieve and focus on them. Say no to the rest and don’t try to do everything.
- Remove interruptions in your day and carve out key productivity times. The average employee gets interrupted every eight minutes and the average manager every three minutes.
- Set aside time every day without interruptions to tackle projects that require deep thinking. Block these chunks of time on your calendar so other people can’t meet with you or interrupt.
- Shift your own expectations of yourself. At the end of the day, recognize what you have accomplished instead of obsessing about what you didn’t finish.