See how women run between Career and Family

Juggling career and family presents women with pressures, choices, dilemmas, struggles, and time crunches. The workplace, society, and women themselves have yet to reconcile the time and commitment needed to pursue a career with the role of mom. While the workplace policies and societal attitudes are evolving, today's women face these issues on a day-to-day basis.

I have some advice, strictly my opinion, to offer from my personal experiences. I am an "older" engineer and was the first woman to graduate from Manhattan College in 1969 with a bachelor of science in civil engineering. I went on to the University of Michigan for a master's degree in sanitary engineering in 1970.

The first piece of advice I have is to appreciate the progress made by women in the engineering field in terms of acceptance. The pioneering phase for women in engineering is complete. In 2001, women represented 20 percent of engineering undergraduate and master's degree students and 17 percent of engineering doctoral candidates. In the same year, approximately 11 percent of the engineering workforce was female (National Science Foundation website, www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/wmpd/ start.htm; each statistic has a separate source).

However, there are now new and different pressures that are equally challenging as those "of old," and we certainly need to encourage women to pursue careers in engineering. The rest of my suggestions can be summarized in four points:

• Consider the balance between work and home responsibilities that will work for you and make you happy.
• Look for an employer that offers and respects flexibility.
• Find a mentor. Be a mentor.
• Reevaluate, reevaluate, reevaluate.

The first piece of advice may sound obvious, but often we're too busy to decide what is important to us, too stressed to figure out what would be an acceptable work/home combination; we're struggling with guilt at work regarding family and battling guilt at home regarding job performance. Everyone needs to establish her individual comfort zone. There will be as many variations as there are individuals. Each needs to be respected and supported. It is also important to recognize that some women at particular times in their lives have limited options regarding work/home balancing-the single mother, for example. Everyone, however, can make choices with respect to personal and professional boundaries.

Second, take advantage of the flexibility available in many jobs. Engineering firms and utilities are looking for ways to recruit and retain qualified and talented personnel. Flexibility with respect to work hours is a relatively easy way to accommodate staff, especially in the service-type engineering environment. Full-time, half-time, part-time, one day a week, and fewer, extended length workdays per week are all possibilities. Other options include telecommuting and leaves of absence. If an "out of the ordinary" arrangement would be helpful to you, ask for it. Create an opportunity for yourself. Proponents of flexible work arrangements link individualized schedules to an increase in employee efficiency.

Firm culture is so critical in making flexible work arrangements successful for the employer and employee. We all, and especially corporate leaders, must first create fair policies and programs that accommodate different career paths. But just as important are the unwritten rules. Executives must set the tone that these flextime policies are acceptable and respected. Look for an employer who not only has these policies and programs, but who also has a culture where utilizing them is accepted. None of these arrangements will entirely erase pressures and conflicts, but they can make the balance more sustainable.

I have used several of these work options during my career: full-time after graduate school, then less and less time as my children were born. While the children were in nursery school, I reduced "work outside the home" to a few hours a month and then stopped work entirely. When my youngest was in third grade, I resumed my career part-time. When I noticed that I was "home alone" at 3:30 because the girls were involved in after school sports, clubs, etc., I went back to work full-time.

Women (and men in increasing numbers) are working on flextime or part-time schedules and are taking extended leaves of absence. Third, gather a support network. Don't do everything yourself. Family and friends are crucial at all stages of family life and career development. Find people who you respect and trust. Mentors need not be of the same gender, generation, or mindset.

Employers can help foster professional development in the workplace by adopting simple mentoring programs. For example, reimburse employees of different levels to talk to students about career options, job stresses, or personal goals. Encourage senior employees to mentor younger employees. Take the time to create an environment where these discussions are accepted. The area of a personal support network is where I have been blessed. My mother, a widow who raised and supported her four children, was an early champion of my decision to become an engineer. My friends' fathers and my relatives tried to discourage me from the "waste of an education, because you will get married and have kids and never use it." My mother was adamant that I should follow my heart.

Finally, it is certain that we change over time. Realize this and embrace it. What was once a good decision for you, your career, and your family may no longer be the right option. Set aside a structured "reevaluation" time-be it according to the calendar, career progression, or family-related milestones. Be proactive in reevaluating. Not making a change is, in and of itself, making a decision. Be deliberate. This last piece of advice is the one that is most difficult for me to follow. My nature is to dwell in the status quo. However, I continue to work on this and appreciate the promptings of co-workers, family, and friends to accept new challenges.

Life is a journey and an adventure. There are countless paths to achieve the same goal. A friend once told me, "You can have it all. Your definition of 'all' just might have to change." I feel that my definition of "all" has expanded over time. I am happy, and I am positive that I "have it all."- FROM -Patricia Ruback Kehrberge - HydroQual Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

Most recent - The 10 Most Powerful Women in Technology

You would picture a man’s face if you hear the word “Technology” or won’t you? As a female technologist, I’ve never had a female colleague in my office. Back at school, it was a class of about 100 men to 20 girls. It has always been men-men-men in the technology world. 

 According to James Brown, it’s a man’s world. You wouldn’t doubt this when you compare the low ratio of women as to that of men in either the tech schools or careers. Historically, the tech-world has been notably bad in this field in general.

The explosion of software technology has launched lots of women in the tech world. The influx strengthens the guts of women in hardware tech.  With a number of strong, smart women taking on leadership roles with good pay grades at high profile IT and social media companies, the tides seem to be turning slowly.
 And now here is a list of 10 women who have taken the lead in the tech-world.

1. Virginia Rometty (CEO – IBM)




At the helm of IBM since Jan. 2012, Rometty is the first woman to lead the company. Not only does she lead the world’s biggest computer company in terms of revenue ($104.5 billion annually), she also knows when to make sacrifices. IBM’s revs dipped in the fourth quarter of 2013 for the seventh quarter in a row, and Rometty decided not to take a bonus. Her senior team followed suit. Yes, she makes a lot of money, but passing up more cash is hard, and she acted with integrity.

2. Lisa Falzone (CEO & Co-Founder – Revel Systems)

You probably haven’t heard of Revel Systems, but you use its flagship product all the time indirectly at coffee shops and restaurants, thanks to Falzone. She co-created a point-of-sale system for retail stores and eating establishments to hook up an iPad to a cash register and printer so that you can buy stuff from an iPad. This thing allows you to sign your name on the Apple device rather than wasting paper and lets retailers handle all of their analytics in one place. The app even beat Square for iPad app of the year, the attachable reader that lets you swipe your plastic on-the-go. Falzone, just 28 years old, attributes her entrepreneurial success to her days on Stanford’s competitive swim team.

3. Roxanne Varza (Startup Lead – Microsoft)

It seems there isn’t anything Varza can’t do. She’s the former editor of TechCrunch France and co-founder of Girls in Tech Paris & London, though now, she’s heading up all of Microsoft’s startup operations in France, including Bizspark and a newer accelerator initiative of Microsoft’s called Spark. Basically, she decides which startup companies have a future, which requires strong business acumen and foresight. Varza is trilingual and makes startup talk fun by blogging about her “startup crushes” at techbaguette.com. Oh, and she’s not too cool to use Pinterest to bookmark her favorite French entrepreneurs, books and recipes.
4. Isabel Ge Mahe (VP – iOS Wireless Software)
Based out of Los Altos, California, Mahe leads the charge on Apple’s iOS wireless software. Apple has been criticized in the past for boasting a board of senior vice presidents full of old white men. But the much younger Asian developer has certainly earned her position and brought diversity to the prolific company. One of the highest ranked female employees at Apple and an important contribution to the code that makes up Apple device software, she helps your iPhone’s maps, music and other apps run smoothly and seamlessly.

5. Katie Jacobs Stanton (VP of International Growth – Twitter)

Katie Jacobs Stanton knows the power of Twitter, and she’s in charge of making it reach even farther as Twitter’s head of international strategy. A Google and Yahoo vet, Stanton transitioned from the U.S. State Dept. to the microblogging company. Now, about 77 percent of Twitter handles are outside the U.S., so Stanton’s work has been successful. Between its use for communicating conditions after natural disasters, sharing real-time news and sparking social change, Twitter is powerful, and Stanton has been driving much of the momentum. Most importantly, President Obama appointed her the first Director of Citizen Participation, and she is said to have gotten the president onto Twitter.

6. Emily White (COO – Snapchat)

White is no stranger to the social media world, having come from Instagram and previously Facebook before settling in as Snapchat’s COO. She’s best known for her tenacity in the workplace and welcoming attitude toward challenges, and she left Instagram with a solid strategy for implementing advertising into the user experience. As No. 2 at Snapchat, mostly popular among teenagers and millennials, White is helping to monetize the company and ensure it’s not just a fad – but a sustainable business operation.

7. Marissa Mayer (CEO – Yahoo)

Marissa Mayer puts up with a lot. A Google transplant, the blue-eyed blonde exec is constantly taking heat for the way she is attempting to lead the struggling Yahoo back to the top. Despite the company’s advertising revenue woes, Mayer has consistently sought growth and innovation at Yahoo. Snatching up Tumblr for $1.1 billion, launching Yahoo Tech and Yahoo Food, doubling down on mobile efforts and trying to become the next Netflix are just a few of the endeavors Mayer can count on her watch. Yahoo may not be more relevant than Google or Facebook right now, but they’re certainly putting up a good fight under Mayer. And if I may say it, she does her work looking fabulous.

8. Susan Wojcicki (CEO – YouTube)

Let’s talk about how Susan Wojcicki is Harvard-educated, runs one of the five most popular websites on the Internet and is a mother to four children. Before that, she was the ad queen at Google, managing the ins and outs of AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick and Google Analytics. And, she’s the mastermind behind Google Images. Wojcicki is deeply rooted in some of the most foundational areas of the Internet we know, and she wrote this awesome letter to girls about getting into the tech industry.

9. Diane Bryant (SVP – Intel)

Bryant has truly worked her way up, having started at Intel 28 years ago. At 18, she worked as a waitress and went to a local community college for free, before transferring to U.C. Davis and studying electrical engineering. Today she leads a team worth $10 billion to Intel, overseeing and developing the technology “powering nine out of every 10 servers sold around the world.”

10. Meg Whitman (CEO – HP)

One of the world’s billionaires, Whitman leads operations at Hewlett Packard and is an eBay and Walt Disney Company alum. Before starting at HP, though, she dabbled in politics. Whitman ran for governor of California and won the Republican primary before ultimately losing to her opponent. But the Mr. Potato Head proponent went back to her tech roots and has been able to turn around what was once a bad forecast for HP. For now, revenue declines have leveled out and stock is up, thanks to her leadership.

Why the world needs more women in the workplace

WORLD : Women workforce  from the 60s to date

Since the 1960's, women in the workplace have come a long way. But a new study shows that they still have a long way to go. Women today make up about half the American workforce, this is much unlike in the 1960's when they constituted about a third.
But, for example, only 23 Fortune 500 companies have CEOs who are women. Look at average wages – in 1963, a woman in the United States made 59 cents for every dollar a man made. Today, women have made good gains, but on average they make 77 cents for every dollar a male counterpart makes.
The most startling data on women in the workplace, came from a study by two left-leaning think tanks – the Center for American Progress and the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
It turns out that the most important economic trend of the last 30 years might not be high tech...but rather high employment of women. If women hadn't entered the workforce – by the millions – over the last three decades, the study says, the U.S. economy would be about 11 percent smaller.
The report, which was partially funded by the Department of Labor, found that if women worked at 1979 levels, the U.S. economy would have lost over $1.7 trillion in economic output in 2012. That amount – $1.7 trillion dollars – is roughly the GDP of Canada.
One way to see what a country looks like when women don't work so much is to look at Japan. Japanese women are amazingly well educated, but, for various cultural reasons, they do not enter the workforce and stay in it. And those who do struggle to break the glass ceiling…or the “bamboo ceiling.”
Goldman Sachs estimates that if Japan could increase the female employment rate, the country's labor force would expand by more than 8 million people – and its GDP will grow by as much as 15 percent. That's significant for a stuttering economy with a rapidly aging population. And it's probably why Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" growth strategy has been infused with "Womanomics." Last year, he announced that he wanted to support women so that they could "shine" in the economy.
And it's not just Japan. According to the international Monetary fund, increasing women's employment rates around the globe could result in huge gains.
 If women worked at the same level as men in Egypt, the country's GDP could grow by 34 percent. The United Arab Emirates would see a 12 percent boost. Germany and France 4 percent...and even the United States could see 5 percent more growth.
But, let's be honest, women working has also produced economic complications. A larger, more competitive workforce has arguably kept wages from rising much.
Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Brookings Institution point out that if you look at all working age men, the real earnings of the median American male have decreased by 19 percent since 1970, and this is for a variety of reasons.
Women working has also produced social complications regarding raising children. The Harvard Business review conducted a survey of American women who had left work to have children. Ninety-three percent of them wanted to return to work. But, only 74 percent managed to do so, and just 40 percent were able to return to full-time jobs.
The transformation of women's lives has been one of the great changes in history, but it will take time to get it right and to put in place laws and practices that make it work. Perhaps this will be one of the tasks that Hillary Clinton takes on if she gets that new job everyone is talking about in 2016…

--------------By Global Public Square