I choose a topic that one day I will have to deal with, like many other women. I am excited to join the workforce and start a career of my own. I am excited to see where my career takes me and what I will be able to achieve. Another goal of mine is to also start a family one day. I saw my mother balance both work and parenting, but never thought to ask how she did it. Many women struggle with balancing their careers and their families. Many women face the struggle, and yet I haven’t heard a lot about this topic. I have seen contradicting pieces on working on parenting spanning form “Women can have it all” to “Women Still Can’t have it all”. It is proposed that women can now have their family life and their careers. But I have seen that this isn’t always the case. The balance sometimes crumbles and one of their pieces of a woman’s life starts to feel the struggle. I want to figure out how women can have it all and balance both their careers and their personal lives. I want to further investigate the topic surrounding achieving your career goals while also balancing your family as a priority. I believe that I will be able to figure out healthy options that women can turn to, so they can achieve their family and work goals without feeling like they are being defeated. I believe that my research will show that women can “have it all” but it is a complicated balancing act.
I found an article from Fortune entitled “Women with big jobs and big families: Balancing really isn't that hard”. This article gave an interesting perspective on the topic of balancing work and a personal life. All the women for this article were in leadership position roles and pointed out they have the skills and means to delegate. The skill to delegate helps them at work, to find others to efficiently get things done while also benefiting them at home. Delegating to their father or child care providers helps them make sure their children are being fulfilled. This article also provided different options these women used to help them with the balance or work and life. Some of these options were making sure family was close, embracing the fact that work can come home with you, building a team at work, as well as building your team at home.
The other source I found was an article called “Across the continuum of satisfaction with work–family balance: Work hours, flexibility-fit, and work–family culture”. This article described research preformed around the topic of the number of hours worked per week and the happiness level with the family life balance. Through their research they found that flexibility in life and a support network can provide someone with the chance to have a healthier work and life balance. Also having a culture at work that supports families and is respectful of them, can provide parents with a healthier life balance.
I believe that both of the sources I found will help me prove my hypothesis, that the work life balance is achievable, but it is a complicated balance. The articles provided tips and tricks that would be helpful to working mothers. Finding additional articles could help me give further recommendations about this topic. I hope to be able to prove my hypothesis while also providing this a conversation about the work life balance that is focused on solutions and positive results.
Sources
Mcnamara, T. K., Pitt-Catsouphes, M., Matz-Costa, C., Brown, M., & Valcour, M. (2013). Across the continuum of satisfaction with work–family balance: Work hours, flexibility-fit, and work–family culture. Social Science Research, 42(2), 283-298. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.10.002
VANDERKAM, L. (2015, June 6). Women with big jobs and big families: Balancing really isn't that hard. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2015/06/06/women-with-big-jobs-and-big-families-balancing-really-isnt-that-hard/
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