Blog #36: Talk of the Nation

Can corporate America lure women back into the workforce? I think corporate America can lure women back into the workforce; it is just going to take a lot of change and understanding. I personally do not see why any man or woman would want to work long hours and then be on-call 24 hours of the day. I understand that Americans are obsessed with success and money, but at what cost. What good is making all this money if you never get to go out and enjoy it? The NPR broadcast “Talk of the Nation” stated that Americans work on average 100 hour more per year than any other industrial nation in the world. I just do not understand why. One of the men who called in to NPR stated that he observed 25 measurable differences between men workers and women workers. Men are concerned with how to make money. The man said that men in general feel like they have an obligation to make more money. Women on the other hand center their work on achieving a balance. The balance women are looked for are: work, family, and having a life. Yes, the glass ceiling is still a problem, but fortunately it has lessened somewhat over the past years. Some people feel that women are forced, but the main consensus was that women opt out and do not want to make the sacrifices that are necessary to be on the top rungs of business. To get women to come back to the workforce businesses need to be more flexible and provide reduced hours. One gentleman said that doctors can still be good doctors if they work 40 hours to 70 hours instead of over a hundred hours a week. It is obvious that women bring great skills and talents to the job. The jobs that have women in the top positions are more successful than the jobs that do not. That should be enough of an incentive to make the necessary changes to get women to come back to work.