Women In Tech: The Challenge Of Balancing Leadership And Motherhood

Make sure your employer embodies a family-first culture

In our work lives — especially in the technology industry — we have seen a massive change in the past two years. With the majority of roles becoming fully remote and teams being spread out across the globe, how we now work has affected our personal lives directly. This has resulted in parents everywhere struggling to find a balance between parental duties and work responsibilities.
 

For mothers, especially, the challenges of finding a work-life balance only intensified with the shift to remote work. Technology has been a male-dominated industry for generations, with only 25% of tech-related jobs being held by women. And from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., mothers have been perceived to be the main point of contact for all things childcare.

Comparing the benefits offered in other countries with what is standard in the United States places this problem into even deeper relief, as the gulf between what the U.S. gives women and families and what other parts of the world do is huge. The United States is the only country in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to provide zero paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave. Any paid parental leave is either an added employer benefit or taken from the employee’s personal or sick leave. While many companies recognize the importance of this period in some way, the fact that it is not codified in law means that it really is up to a company’s discretion. And many times, that does not work out in the family’s favor.

We also know that the lack of universal health care in the U.S. affects families, too. While it’s implemented differently in particular locations, universal health care is present in every country in Western Europe. I’m neither arguing that we should all pack up and move, nor that healthcare systems in other parts of the world are flawless. However, the fact that the U.S. forces many families to rely on health care coverage tied to their job sets up the conditions in which women must make increasingly difficult decisions about their careers and their family’s health.

Due to the lack of female representation in the technology industry, it's common for leadership roles to be taken up by men primarily. This can lead to company benefits that don't accurately support mothers’ goals and needs. Poor maternity leave policies are just one example of this. In today's workforce, the standard time off after welcoming a child into the world is 8 to 12 weeks — with some businesses not even paying mothers during their hiatus. Again, the European model is worth investigating, as 29 European countries offer at least 2 months worth of paid time.

Some countries offer more time off but don’t guarantee the same amount of pay. Given the economic might of the U.S. globally, this is a shameful fact. And, all too often, these inadequate policies lead women to make the tough decision to leave their roles indefinitely, decreasing the percentage of technology positions held by women altogether. Furthermore, it’s interesting to see the U.K. government proposing a new law to grant the right to for employees to ask for part-time hours or home-working arrangements - this goes to show how important this topic of flexibility is for the UK region, for all genders.

In addition, women are often passed over for promotions due to the possibility of them having a kid in the future. When a man is considered for a promotion, rarely does leadership have to take into account the likelihood of paternity leave. But when onboarding women, hiring managers are already thinking about how it will impact the business. This leads to delayed job advancements stemming from internal biases. And delayed job advancement feeds into the gender pay gap between men and women. While the U.S. has made strides in this area, a recent study found that the pay gap improvement slowed during the pandemic, especially for minority women.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work at a mother-friendly company, where I’m able to maintain a healthy work-life balance while advancing along the promotional track to leadership. My advice to other professional women is this: when entertaining a new role at a new company, make sure the employer embodies a family-first culture. However, this goes beyond reviewing the benefits advertised on a company website. In addition, interview employees in the role and division you are considering joining, asking them scenario-based questions, to ferret out the true cultural view on parenting. It’s crucial not only to your success at work and home but also to your overall satisfaction.

Author Bio

Deirdre Leone, is SVP, Commercial – Global at ContractPodAi