There is a vast difference in the way men deal with their career and the way women approach their career. For men, it is a life long need, necessity, engagement.....or what ever you may choose to call it.
For women it is different. Most women until they get married, are if not more, equally competitive and involved with their career as their male counterparts. I have been through long work hours as much as my male counterparts. But post marriage, things change for a women. Slowly marriage (husband), children and home becomes her priority. Children and husband need as much, if not more attention as career.
Yah, there are many women out there who will strongly disagree with what I have written. But having been working for a long time myself (both before and after marriage), I see a vast difference in my own career orientation. There is a greater pressure to strike a balance between "home" and the "office".
Women have an option which many of them exercise post marriage - to have a career or to become a home maker and not step out to work. The choice is there in many cases!
Men are not so lucky. As far as earning is concerned; they have little choice. They are the bread earners, also because they choose not to take on the home makers role.
From my own experience, there are many male friends who started their careers with me. Somewhere post marriage, I have consciously slowed down my pace (though I am still far more career minded than many of my female friends). My male friends who started their careers with me are much ahead of me. In terms of monetary gains or even the authority which comes with growth. They are ahead. I am as capable as many of them are; yet the choice to slow down was mine. Somewhere post marriage, I lost the competitiveness or that killing desire to succeed in my professional career. One can say; it dint matter as much.
After marriage, most women start looking for exits in this marathon called career. Either they get tired, burn out, too many responsibilities, children and their upbringing.....and so with time they start slowing down in their career. Again I am not stating that all of them do it, or all of them go through this phase, but yes a majority of them do.
Women must redefine career and not blindly go with the male definition of a career. Somewhere the need of the hour for married women, who are educated and skilled is to use their education and skills to be financially independent.
Career for a married women, who is a wife, a mother and a home maker is "to have the freedom of being creatively engaged, become financially independent, and have the time and energy required to become a good home maker." Long work hours, long hours commuting and job related stress bring imbalance in the married life.
I am attempting to differentiate between having a cut throat career orientation and being financially independent through flexi-working hours.
Unfortunately in India, there aren't too many avenues for women to keep flexi-working hours. As a result many intelligent and potential young managers (women) are forced to quit their careers and become home makers. Which is a loss for the Industry and also a loss for the economy.
Having said all that, if there are some brilliant women executives who are managing all this well (home and career), then they must step out and share their experiences with those not so lucky to strike this balance. More so in India.
