July 23, 2015

"Another article about an top-tier MBA-grad that is supposed to represent millennial women?"

"What, you couldn't find a Yale Law School grad to further support your thesis? While it is interesting for approximately one second to contemplate the career paths of the Ivy League set, most women (and men) in this country do not have the 'choices' that these women make. While women are certainly more cognizant of work-life balance and those who can and are so inclined to are increasingly making choices to spend more time with their family, these women are not representative of a generation. Most people work whatever job they can to support their families, and struggle at that. I'm a graduate of a top law school and have taken a step back from a big law firm to spend more time with my kids, but at least I don't fool myself into thinking (or writing articles that imply) that's an option for everyone."

Comment on a NYT article titled "More Than Their Mothers, Young Women Plan Career Pauses."

30 comments:

JackWayne said...

Ann, do you read the NYT because the articles support your Progressivism or because the underlying theme makes you sad for the glorious past of Progressivism?

SGT Ted said...

Feminism is really about forcing others to cater to the wants of well off women and crazy college girls these days. Equality has been won and so they have to pretend that women in America are still oppressed in order to claim yet more female privilege be enacted into law.

Wince said...

What you will never see referenced in one of these NYT women's career "choice" articles is the bogus "78 cents" statistic.

Must preserve the narrative.

Ann Althouse said...

I read the NYT:

1. Because I need news sources and all are flawed.

2. Great source of bloggable material. I tend to blog things I disagree with!

Michael said...

The New York Times is written for the people who read the New York Times. It's no more complicated than that.

Larry J said...

The only time I've ever heard men told we could have it all was in a beer commercial (IIRC: Michelob) from years ago. We all have to make choices and those choices have consequences, usually in the form of restricting some of our later options. Having kids is a major choice. It will limit most people's options considerably.

lgv said...

Well, it's nice that she step down to a job as a strategist with a major pharmacy company. That's very representative.

It's great that women are planning out these career choices, but I doubt their employers are in on the planning meetings. Once they have tapped the maternity benefit, they execute their plan and resign without warning. There is a weird catch 22 out there as an employer. If you play fair and hire plenty of females, people of color, and people of great maturity, it just increases your risk of being sued. Once someone makes a claim, even when the claim is deemed worthless, you get gun shy about hiring.

There is also a certain disconnect from reality to the life of the elite MBA school grad. They play in a a different league made up of only their elite school peers. They can't conceive of how little they actually know, or that they aren't smarter than the top 10% of Big Ten MBA schools.

Anonymous said...

I have no issues with women MBA's or lawyers doing this sort of semi-dropping out. The world has enough Harvard MBA's and lawyers.

I get more conflicted for the female Doctors who eat up a med school slot, when stats show that the career productivity of a female Dr is about half that of a male.

issues:

- much shorter work weeks
- breaks in career
- part time after kids
- early retirement

Anonymous said...

lgv said...
Once they have tapped the maternity benefit, they execute their plan and resign without warning.


actually it's worse.

What they do is promise to come back after delivery, take the full FMLA period, forcing the business to hold their job, then resign the day before due to return.

rhhardin said...

A place on the highway nearby offers doggie day care.

David said...

A current day Diogenes would be pleased.

David said...

Jack Wayne said...
Ann, do you read the NYT because the articles support your Progressivism or because the underlying theme makes you sad for the glorious past of Progressivism?


Jack,I know you must understand words, but the idea that Althouse reads (and comments on) NYT because of some prog-worship reflects a deficiency in overall comprehension. At least as often as not, she eviscerates NYT. Including in this case.

Rarely do I jump to Althouse's defense, because she can defend herself more effectively than I can defend her. But your comment is just too silly.

Achilles said...

To readers/writers of the NYT Millennial women are rich, white,go to ivy league schools, drop out of the economy to have children, are are constantly victims of predator men. They don't understand that this represents about 1% of millennial women. I know many of the 99% and they work multiple jobs, have multiple kids, and usually are not married. We had to lay about 6 of them off when we got our tax bill this year as we have to pay the government too much to actually employ people. They are struggling as much as we are.

The vast majority of women are as foreign to Althouse and the rest of the NYT readership as the rest of the hoi polloi.

Richard Dolan said...

The 'top-rated comment' is of the 'you should have written about something else' variety. Maybe so, but it's a free country and even a writer in the NYT gets to pick her own topic.

Perhaps the travails of the upper 1% bore some people. But it so happens that the NYT is usually writing with that audience in mind. Not coincidentally, the same audience is also one of the main pillars of the Team Dem. It all fits, both in terms of subject and forum.

And did you notice that almost all of the B-school women quoted in the article have Asian names? Isn't that a bit to micro-aggressive for the NYT -- you know, the unsubtle suggestion that those Asian women are 'tiger moms who want it all' kind of thing?

cubanbob said...

The Drill SGT said...
I have no issues with women MBA's or lawyers doing this sort of semi-dropping out. The world has enough Harvard MBA's and lawyers.

I get more conflicted for the female Doctors who eat up a med school slot, when stats show that the career productivity of a female Dr is about half that of a male. "

When you need roughly twice as many doctors to carry the same load as was previously done by half as many doctors costs are going to go up.

As for the article, why don't these special snowflakes keep their jobs and hire full time nannies to raise their kids? The kids get raised, the nannies get good paying jobs and the special snowflake can pursue her career. This was a fairly common practice among the elites back in the day.

Brando said...

"As for the article, why don't these special snowflakes keep their jobs and hire full time nannies to raise their kids? The kids get raised, the nannies get good paying jobs and the special snowflake can pursue her career. This was a fairly common practice among the elites back in the day."

With all the young people out of work these days, I'm surprised more of them don't get hired as nannies--how hard can it be to pass a background check and keep a kid from setting himself on fire? What a boon that would be for the economy--more unemployed getting hired, more competition bringing down the costs of nannying and less power for Big Nanny, and women who can earn more outside the home will be freed up to compete in the economy.

The Chinese are way ahead of us on this.

Freeman Hunt said...

I know a lot of stay at home parents, and very few of them are well off. Most are lower middle to middle class. The NYT commentariat can spare us the noblesse oblige.

Tank said...

The Drill SGT said...

lgv said...
Once they have tapped the maternity benefit, they execute their plan and resign without warning.

actually it's worse.

What they do is promise to come back after delivery, take the full FMLA period, forcing the business to hold their job, then resign the day before due to return.


I don't disagree, but I do think that many (some?) of these women do intend to return to work but, after spending time with their new child, can't force themselves to do it. I find it hard to criticize that, even though your point is sound.

TRISTRAM said...

" more competition bringing down the costs of nannying and less power for Big Nanny"

The problem is Big Nanny (aka Government). It is a jealous power. See Also: Background checks for volunteers, minimum wage laws, etc.

Henry said...

Even those with the highest career ambitions are more likely than their predecessors to plan to scale back at work at certain times or to seek out flexible jobs.

I'm glad that flexible jobs are there to seek out. They have certainly made my life better, though I'm not a female Ivy League MBA.

I'd love to rewrite one of these articles from the point of view of the person who prioritizes personal relationships and creativity over power and money.

And those who prize family time and personal creativity the most are more likely than their predecessors to plan to scale up at work at certain times or to seek out flexible jobs.

Bay Area Guy said...

I have enormous respect for women who work and raise kids at the same time. It is grueling. Finding the right work/life balance is difficult. Sustaining a good healthy marriage while doing this,adds to the grind.

There's a lot of exhausted working women in SF, who after a few glasses of wine, lament that they'd rather be at home, hitched to a good man. The rat race ain't so hot.

When will the NY Times write about this:)

Kyzer SoSay said...

Tank:
I don't disagree, but I do think that many (some?) of these women do intend to return to work but, after spending time with their new child, can't force themselves to do it. I find it hard to criticize that, even though your point is sound.

Agreed, this is likely in many of those cases. I sympathize with the woman/mother in cases like these, but they could still offer to come back for 3 weeks or a month to close out their duties and bring their replacement up to speed. The ones who can't even bring themselves to do that minimal courtesy are just selfish.

FleetUSA said...

My neonatal MD daughter is unwinding from her Assoc Prof job at UnivHospital for similar reasons....more time with kids. They're only young once.

Bay Area Guy said...

AA sez:

I read the NYT:

1. Because I need news sources and all are flawed.

2. Great source of bloggable material. I tend to blog things I disagree with!
____________________________________________________________________________

Fair enough, but wouldn't you also agree that the NY Times has a political point of view (left of center) and that you share this political point of view?

This is not necessarily a bad thing. A few people I know watch only FoxNews, and, Yes, they share FoxNews' political point of view.

Achilles said...

Bay Area Guy said...
"AA sez:

I read the NYT:

1. Because I need news sources and all are flawed.

2. Great source of bloggable material. I tend to blog things I disagree with!
____________________________________________________________________________

Fair enough, but wouldn't you also agree that the NY Times has a political point of view (left of center) and that you share this political point of view?

This is not necessarily a bad thing. A few people I know watch only FoxNews, and, Yes, they share FoxNews' political point of view."

It has more to do with thinking that everyone has the same concerns and problems. It is a bubble that they have formed. They don't want to hear about the problems of a single mom that has 4 kids with 2 different fathers and three 10$ an hour jobs. They want to hear about the poor doctor who is married to another rich professional and has to choose between her precious new snowflake and a career.

Laura said...

When will these Ivy League mental powerhouses realize that it's not all about sex. One of the first things my husband did while studying engineering at a land grant university was to observe lines at a restaurant. When are the peak times at a restaurant?

The problem is not just sex; it's also that most professional level jobs are locked into business hours, because it's easier to track man (that's a reference to universal man feminists) hours and labor costs with a time clock, for both accounting and wait for it, taxes and governmental regulation.

What Freeman Hunt said plus this: screw the online services that only hire candidates with doctorates or Ivy League credentials for telecommuting work.

cubanbob said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
cubanbob said...

cubanbob said...
Tank said...
The Drill SGT said...

lgv said...
Once they have tapped the maternity benefit, they execute their plan and resign without warning.

actually it's worse.

What they do is promise to come back after delivery, take the full FMLA period, forcing the business to hold their job, then resign the day before due to return.

I don't disagree, but I do think that many (some?) of these women do intend to return to work but, after spending time with their new child, can't force themselves to do it. I find it hard to criticize that, even though your point is sound.
7/23/15, 12:53 PM

As an employer been to that rodeo more than once. Its expensive and disruptive. Funny thing, a couple of years later, when money is tight and things are tough, I have had a few that want to come back since they need the money. Sometimes I take them back, but frankly on the whole its just cheaper, more productive and less disruptive to just hire a man. Businesses aren't charities but the left thinks they are. Anyway the law is the law and that's that. Incidentally its the time off of the career and working less hours that is the reason for the 73 cents hour versus the dollar for a man. Its worth paying more simply for the productivity gain and the lessen disruption. Otherwise what for profit business would pay more than it has to?

7/23/15, 4:32 PM
Delete

Left Bank of the Charles said...

More than their mothers, but less than their grandmothers.

JackWayne said...

Poor David. I'm teasing Ann. I consider her a Moderate which I rate a worse disease that Progressivism.