Have you heard the latest addition to the impossible to solve work-life-motherhood-sanity equation? Long work ... Read more »]]> By Adrienne Kimmell, May 3, 2013

Have you heard the latest addition to the impossible to solve work-life-motherhood-sanity equation? Long work hours drive mothers out of high-achieving professions.

This is hardly surprising. But aside from the glaring implications for what this means for women’s empowerment and earning power, this recent research from an Indiana University sociology professor sparks a larger question. What does this mean for women’s representation in politics, a notoriously “overworked” field?

The study defined “overwork” professions as those requiring at least 50 hours of work per week. According to the research, “having children increases overworking women’s odds of exiting male-dominated occupations by 52 percent, as compared to their non-mother counterparts.” Being a father, on the other hand, “has no effect on the mobility of overworking men.”

Score another one for the old boys’ club.

As a working mother myself, and a woman whose social circle is filled with working women with kids who aren’t yet school-aged, this research rings particularly true. Surely there are men who feel the same stresses that come with working a demanding full-time job, managing a home, and raising a family. But let’s not forget one difference. Most men have a support network in place to make it all work: a wife, a husband, a partner, or their own mother.

I’ve said it before and it bears repeating: For women thinking about running for office, managing motherhood is often a barrier to diving in. Also, that’s to say nothing of the major class divide. For so many women, taking time off to run or paying for childcare is simply out of the question. We’re faced with a chicken-and-egg predicament. We need more women in office to advocate for policies like paid family leave, paid sick days, and workplace schedules flexible enough to accommodate the reality of having children. But without those policies, fewer women will run.

I take heart in the inspirational women who tackle that challenge head-on. Take Massachusetts State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry, for example.

The legislator just won a historic race to become the Democratic nominee for state Senate (in an old boys’ stronghold where white men have reigned for, well, forever). She is the first woman and person of color to do so in that Boston district. And did I mention she’s a mother of four (and three of her kids – all under nine years old – were born when she was in office)?

I look forward to a day when stories like Forry’s aren’t the exception. I look forward to a day when the system isn’t working against women instead of with them. Forget “having it all.” Let’s work on forging a political system in which women don’t have to choose between being a leader at home or a leader in office.

Jenny Lau is a social justice activist who lives and works for a more equitable world. Prior to joining ... Read more »]]> Political Assistant
jlau@barbaralee.com

Jenny Lau is a social justice activist who lives and works for a more equitable world. Prior to joining our team, Jenny was the Civic Action and Worker Center Organizer at the Chinese Progressive Association, a grassroots community organization where she organized immigrant workers around issues at their workplace, and worked on several different voter engagement campaigns.

Jenny is in the Community Fellows Program, a program under Boston University’s Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership, which is dedicated to creating a pipeline of diverse nonprofit leaders. Jenny is also a Core Trainer for the Activist Training Institute, a leadership development and training program for Asian American activists. She previously served as the Activist Fellow at the Asian American Resource Workshop and an inaugural Massachusetts State House Fellow for the Asian American Women’s Political Initiative.

Jenny holds a Bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in American Studies and Community Health.