Comments on: Work and Family Balance for Men? http://equalcouples.com/?p=179 Creating Gender Equality in Relationships Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:34:38 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: facebook chips http://equalcouples.com/?p=179&cpage=1#comment-458 facebook chips Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:27:43 +0000 http://equalcouples.com/?p=179#comment-458 i am regularly wandering all around the online world the majority of the evening so I choose to read quite a lot, which is not commonly a beneficial matter as a large amount of the sites I look at are constructed of worthless waste copied from similar websites a zillion times, nevertheless I gotta give you props this webpage is truely decent and has some authentic content, for that reason many thanks for breaking up the trend of basically replicating other people's sites, if you ever want to try a few hands of facebook poker together with me let me know - you have my e-mail :) i am regularly wandering all around the online world the majority of the evening so I choose to read quite a lot, which is not commonly a beneficial matter as a large amount of the sites I look at are constructed of worthless waste copied from similar websites a zillion times, nevertheless I gotta give you props this webpage is truely decent and has some authentic content, for that reason many thanks for breaking up the trend of basically replicating other people’s sites, if you ever want to try a few hands of facebook poker together with me let me know – you have my e-mail :)

]]> By: Workplace Flexibility in the News for the Week Ending August 1, 2009 | Connecting Career and Life http://equalcouples.com/?p=179&cpage=1#comment-21 Workplace Flexibility in the News for the Week Ending August 1, 2009 | Connecting Career and Life Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:31:35 +0000 http://equalcouples.com/?p=179#comment-21 [...] Work and Family Balance for Men? (Equal Couples Blog) [...] [...] Work and Family Balance for Men? (Equal Couples Blog) [...]

]]> By: Anne Rankin Mahoney http://equalcouples.com/?p=179&cpage=1#comment-18 Anne Rankin Mahoney Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:07:53 +0000 http://equalcouples.com/?p=179#comment-18 Matt, thanks so much for your comment. You make some excellent points. We're definitely talking about choices here. But the need to make these choices between career and family is a real problem now that both men and women work outside the home and many men, as well as women, want to be fully engaged with their families. The workforce has dramatically changed and the organization of work has changed very little. American corporations have an amazing ability to solve problems. Little of this enormous creative capacity has been turned toward how to create work environments that fit with employee needs for flexibility and work/family balance. Other countries have done a better job of offering choices to workers than we have. Choice is important. I think that in order to achieve genuine choice we need to talk about structural and institutional changes at all levels in work environments. Anne Matt, thanks so much for your comment. You make some excellent points. We’re definitely talking about choices here. But the need to make these choices between career and family is a real problem now that both men and women work outside the home and many men, as well as women, want to be fully engaged with their families. The workforce has dramatically changed and the organization of work has changed very little. American corporations have an amazing ability to solve problems. Little of this enormous creative capacity has been turned toward how to create work environments that fit with employee needs for flexibility and work/family balance. Other countries have done a better job of offering choices to workers than we have. Choice is important. I think that in order to achieve genuine choice we need to talk about structural and institutional changes at all levels in work environments. Anne

]]> By: Anne Rankin Mahoney http://equalcouples.com/?p=179&cpage=1#comment-17 Anne Rankin Mahoney Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:33:23 +0000 http://equalcouples.com/?p=179#comment-17 Leanne, Thanks for your reply. I've put your blog on our blogroll because couples who are trying to create a more equal relationship are often looking, as you were, for information about work flexibility. Anne Leanne, Thanks for your reply. I’ve put your blog on our blogroll because couples who are trying to create a more equal relationship are often looking, as you were, for information about work flexibility. Anne

]]> By: Matt Grawitch http://equalcouples.com/?p=179&cpage=1#comment-16 Matt Grawitch Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:08:29 +0000 http://equalcouples.com/?p=179#comment-16 In some ways, Jack Welch is right, he just tailored it to the people who he classifies into a particular category. In reality, where we end up is a result of a series of life choices. At any decision point, we explicitly or implicitly make choices about what is most important. While work-life issues are not just for women, women and men are not exactly the same in this area. The woman is the one who physically has to birth the child. Taking time away from the office for maternity leave may very well have a negative impact on one's career. Because men don't have to birth the child and few companies offer paid paternity leave, men don't quite find themselves in the same position. However, if after birth men start making choices that puts family above career advancement, they aren't going to find themselves with a corner office either. Jack Welch made his choices too. He has been divorced 3 times, and so he has chosen his priorities. And as long as he is comfortable with the outcome of those decisions, who are we to say he was wrong. And that's the way the world generally operates. YOU have to decide where your priorities are and be willing to accept that there are consequences for your actions (both positive and negative). The goal is to get to a point in your life where you can look at where you are and say "I'm happy with where I am" not spending time thinking about "what could have been." Making decisions where you explicitly bring your values into the mix increases your chance of getting to the "I'm happy with where I am" location. I don't think that it's even necessarily about "equally shared parenting." That assumes one approach to family life fits every family's preferences and values. It's about creating a personal/family system that works for you, so that you are an active participant in whichever aspects of your life (e.g., work, family, friends, recreational activities, exercise, religious) you value. In some ways, Jack Welch is right, he just tailored it to the people who he classifies into a particular category. In reality, where we end up is a result of a series of life choices. At any decision point, we explicitly or implicitly make choices about what is most important.

While work-life issues are not just for women, women and men are not exactly the same in this area. The woman is the one who physically has to birth the child. Taking time away from the office for maternity leave may very well have a negative impact on one’s career. Because men don’t have to birth the child and few companies offer paid paternity leave, men don’t quite find themselves in the same position. However, if after birth men start making choices that puts family above career advancement, they aren’t going to find themselves with a corner office either.

Jack Welch made his choices too. He has been divorced 3 times, and so he has chosen his priorities. And as long as he is comfortable with the outcome of those decisions, who are we to say he was wrong.

And that’s the way the world generally operates. YOU have to decide where your priorities are and be willing to accept that there are consequences for your actions (both positive and negative). The goal is to get to a point in your life where you can look at where you are and say “I’m happy with where I am” not spending time thinking about “what could have been.” Making decisions where you explicitly bring your values into the mix increases your chance of getting to the “I’m happy with where I am” location.

I don’t think that it’s even necessarily about “equally shared parenting.” That assumes one approach to family life fits every family’s preferences and values. It’s about creating a personal/family system that works for you, so that you are an active participant in whichever aspects of your life (e.g., work, family, friends, recreational activities, exercise, religious) you value.

]]> By: leanneclc http://equalcouples.com/?p=179&cpage=1#comment-15 leanneclc Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:04:28 +0000 http://equalcouples.com/?p=179#comment-15 I could not agree more with your post. And I am heartened by the reactions in the blogosphere and in the comments sections of the WSJ articles by men. They are as almost as steamed about this as women are. Thank you for your post. I could not agree more with your post. And I am heartened by the reactions in the blogosphere and in the comments sections of the WSJ articles by men. They are as almost as steamed about this as women are.

Thank you for your post.

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