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book recommendation
May. 15th, 2008 04:06 pmPamela Stone, Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home, University of California Press, 2007.
THIS is the book on the 'mommy wars' I have been waiting for these 5 years - intelligent, well-written, an easy read, even, but a scrupulous academic study (if you are worried about this part read the appendix on qualitative studies first). She shows how women who left the workplace to stay home with children describe this as a choice, despite the existence of serious structural issues with society and workplaces that made the choice of leaving work extremely attractive to these (affluent, married) women. And she has some solid ideas about workplace policies that can make the work-life balance more possible (for women and men, and for people who at all levels in a company) - and examples of companies that are implementing them, and how they are succeeding in retaining employees.
THIS is the book on the 'mommy wars' I have been waiting for these 5 years - intelligent, well-written, an easy read, even, but a scrupulous academic study (if you are worried about this part read the appendix on qualitative studies first). She shows how women who left the workplace to stay home with children describe this as a choice, despite the existence of serious structural issues with society and workplaces that made the choice of leaving work extremely attractive to these (affluent, married) women. And she has some solid ideas about workplace policies that can make the work-life balance more possible (for women and men, and for people who at all levels in a company) - and examples of companies that are implementing them, and how they are succeeding in retaining employees.