In Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers
, author Mary Ann Mason traces the career paths of the first generation of ambitious women who started careers 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.
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.
Mothers on the Fast Track 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.
Click here to read sample chapters.
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