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In the past few decades the number of women entering graduate and professional schools has been going up and up, while the number of women reaching the top rung of the corporate and academic worlds has remained relatively stagnant. Why are so many women falling off the fast track? In this timely book, Mary Ann Mason traces the career paths of the first generation of ambitious women who started careers in academia, law, medicine, business, and the media in large numbers in the 1970s and '80s. Many women who had started families but continued working had ended up veering off the path to upper management at a point she calls "the second glass ceiling." Rather than sticking to their original career goals, they allowed themselves to slide into a second tier of management that offers fewer hours, less pay, lower prestige, and limited upward mobility. Men who did likewise--entered the career world with high aspirations and then started families while working--not only did not show the same trend, they reached even higher levels of professional success than men who had no families at all. Along with her daughter, an aspiring journalist, Mason has written a guide for young women who are facing the tough decision of when--and if--to start a family. It is also a guide for older women seeking a second chance to break through to the next level, as Mason herself did in academia. The book features anecdotes and strategies from the dozens of women they interviewed. Advice ranges from the personal (know when to say "no," the importance of time management) to the institutional, with suggestions for how the workplace itself can be changed to make it easier for ambitious working mothers to reach the top levels. The result is a roadmap of new choices for women facing the sobering question of how to balance a successful career with family.
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Mothers on the Fast Track
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Mothers on the Fast Track How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers
MARY ANN MASON EVE MASON EKMAN
3
2007
1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright # 2007 by Mary Ann Mason and Eve Mason Ekman Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mason, Mary Ann. Mothers on the fast track : how a new generation can balance family and careers / Mary Ann Mason and Eve Mason Ekman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–19–518267–5 (hardcover) 1. Working mothers—United States—Case studies. 2. Mothers—Employment—United States—Case studies. 3. Work and family—United States—Case studies. I. Ekman, Eve Mason. II. Title. HQ759.48M347 2007 306.874'3097309045—dc22 2006100026
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
vii
INTRODUCTION
Do Babies Matter? Mothers on the Fast Track
ix
1
The ‘‘Mother Problem’’: Up, Out, or Sidelined?
1
2
The Stude