| Opting In, Opting Out: To Work or Not to Work, That Is the Question | | Print | |
| Written by Lisa McLeod | |
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Page 2 of 3 I got my first glimpse of how pervasive this either/or style of thinking was before I even had a baby. I was 26 years old and up for a big promotion that would involve a move. I was newly married and my gainfully employed husband was less than delighted by the prospect of quitting his job and moving across the country so that I could take a job that paid about the same as the one I was asking him to give up. My boss’s boss sat me down and told me, “Lisa, you’re going to have to decide whose career comes first. It might be yours, or it might be his. But you’ve got to decide who’s going to follow whom.” It’s easier on our brains to assign everybody a permanent role than it is to change and reevaluate over time. Life is delightfully simple when you pigeonhole people into tight little categories. Thus, once a woman leaves the workforce to stay home, she’s only allowed out for vacations and parties. And once a man packs up his briefcase or lunchbox and heads off to work, other than a few silent appearances hunched over the dinner table or a TV tray in the den, he’s never heard from again. No substitutions.
Money and Emotion—Both Talk
New York Times columnist Lisa Belkin, who in 2003 famously and controversially reported on the trend of educated, over-achieving women leaving power careers to stay home in a story titled “The Opt- Out Revolution,” says companies are now trying to get women to “opt back in” by offering part-time and flex options. A Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth study reveals that 80% of companies offer flexible work hours, while telecommuting is offered by 55% and project-based employment is offered by 36%.
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