European Women Can Have a Job But Not a Career

Check out this Newsweek article, which I found via Half Changed World (which I don't read nearly as often as I should.) Here's her take on it.

I have to say that I am not surprised, because it seems that having a family life is pretty much incompatible with (top level) success in business, no matter what your gender. Here in Spain the benefits are not as great as some of those mentioned for other European countries. There are 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, and a government subsidy of 100 euros a month per child under 3 for working women (at three they can start public preschool, so no paid daycare is theoretically necessary) but that's it. Still better than the US, I know. But, I don't actually know many (any) women here with high powered careers. (Actually I don't know any men with HPC either...) Of the two couples we are closest too, friends of Santi's from years ago, both of the women work. One couple has one child, Pedro's age, and the woman is an emergency room nurse-- steady job with good benefits, if a hectic schedule, but not a HPC. The other woman has a desk job and two kids, two years apart. She is not crazy about her job, and has cut back on hours since the second child was born, but I don't think there would have been much possibility for advancement anyway, since it is a small company. Oh wait-- actually, our neighbor's sister has a very HPC-- she is a lawyer in a top position at a bank, and works extremely long hours. For awhile when her son (almost Pedro's age) was a baby she boarded him at Grandma's during the week so she could get some sleep (though she also spent late hours making and freezing baby food for him.) I doubt this (the boarding) is typical, and in fact it may have only been for a brief time-- I don't know. Just an anecdote.

Generally speaking, as I have mentioned before, Spanish people are less married to their jobs as a source of self-esteem, identity, and satisfaction, compared to (some)US workers. I think many people here would prefer to work fewer hours even if it meant staying stagnant in a position rather than ascending (and acquiring greater responsibility and pay.) Of course, I don't know how often that preference would be a feasible option to put into practice.

And I am also glad of the opportunity I will have to get a job that is meaningful and stable yet not abusively time-intensive. Let's hope it all works out!