Striving for Equality: Part 2 of 3

Is it possible to be a good wife, a great mother and a successful businesswoman? Have both a family and a career? Is it possible to combine work and family? Yes! But it needs a lot of patience, hard work and, when possible, a partner’s support.

Women always strive to strike a balance between love and work. Many times they need to decide whether they want to stay at work or listen to their heart and follow their love. Many would prefer the latter. Some women feel that their intuition and “sixth sense” somehow already knows what is the best.

Everybody knows what one of the most important roles is for a woman; it is a role of a mother. Mothers give us moral foundations and help us develop into what we want to become. They play an instrumental part in our lives, and always will. They show us love; they are our teachers and role models. The role of a mother is a full-time job that never ends. Yet many mothers are able to balance family with their professional careers.

One of many examples is Marissa Mayer. She was named the CEO of YAHOO when she was heading into the last trimester of her pregnancy. Marissa needed to decide how she wanted to manage her career and her family. She took just a few weeks of maternity leave and she takes her child to work whenever she can. Of course the biggest support for her is her husband who helps to take care of their baby anytime she cannot.

Another picture of modern motherhood is the Italian Member of Parliament Licia Ronzulli. Licia took her 6 weeks old daughter Vittoria to a session of the European Parliament as a symbolic gesture to claim more rights for women. She shows us how to reconcile work and family life. Licia is still taking her daughter to work, and Vittoria is almost 4-years old.

Women should open up this topic for discussion and talk to partners for support. Talk to them about ambitions, dreams and career goals. Make your partner a real partner. To illustrate the importance of a partner, here is one example: The Swiss government supports a project called “the part-time man” that promotes flexible working hours and conditions that allow men to spend more time with the family and give their female partners more time for their careers. They do this because they realize both parents are important in raising children.

There are many examples of women who show us ways to combine work and family but not all companies allow for such flexibility. Women should find courage to be more self-confident and negotiate conditions with their employers better. Ask for more flexibility. To start, you could work for couple hours per week, eventually working part time, or even work from home. You will never find out what is possible until you ask.

This article is for any woman/mother who is trying to define her own goals and ambitions that would fit into her life, values and dreams. Whatever choice you make, remember, every woman’s role valuable.

The third part of Striving for Equality will be about, and specifically for, women who do not have their own family yet.

-Klaudia