Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (A)

Myra M. Hart; Robin J. Ely; Susan  Wojewoda

Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2003 (Revised March 2006)

Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (A)

by Myra M. Hart, Robin J. Ely and Susan Wojewoda

Abstract

Explores the career challenges facing highly successful women who leave the full-time workforce for several years to manage family commitments. Carol Cohen is a 1985 Harvard MBA who has professional line experience in a manufacturing environment, followed by a successful transition into investment banking. Details Cohen's decision to return to a professional career after almost 11 years out of the full-time workforce. Describes her decision-making process, including discussions with her husband about shared parenting responsibilities, and provides details of her professional networking, resume development, and interview preparation. Concludes with a job offer to Cohen from Sankaty Advisors, a Bain Capital Partners company. Discussion centers on the decision to return to work, the strategic plan and specific steps, and concludes with questions about setting expectations--both at home and at work--and negotiating terms.

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships;

Format: Print

11 pages

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Citation:

Hart, Myra M., Robin J. Ely, and Susan Wojewoda. "Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (A)." Harvard Business School Case 803-185, May 2003. (Revised March 2006.)

Why have women failed to achieve parity with men in the workplace? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because women prioritize their families over their careers, negotiate poorly, lack confidence, or are too risk averse. Meta-analyses of published studies show that those ideas are myths—men and women actually have similar inclinations, attitudes, and skills. What does differ is the way they are treated on the job: Women have less access to vital information, get less feedback from supervisors, and face other obstacles to advancement. To ensure gender equity, the authors recommend that managers (1) question the stereotypes behind their practices, (2) consider other factors that might explain the achievement gap, (3) change workplace conditions accordingly, and (4) keep challenging assumptions and sharing learning to create a culture in which all employees can reach their full potential.

Any list of top CEOs reveals a stunning lack of diversity. Among the leaders of Fortune 500 companies, for example, just 32 are women, three are African-American, and not one is an African-American woman. What’s going on? The authors studied the careers of the roughly 2,300 alumni of African descent who have graduated from Harvard Business School since its founding, focusing on the 67 African-American women who have attained top positions in corporations or professional services firms. These women thrived, they found, because of three characteristics that are key to resilience: emotional intelligence, authenticity, and agility. The women were adept at reading interpersonal dynamics and managing their own reactions; crafting their identities; and transforming obstacles into opportunities. Beyond personal strengths, the authors say, another factor was critical: nurturing relationships with mentors who recognized the women’s talent and made it their business to support them. The insights gleaned are important not just for African-Americans and women; they’re essential for any manager who recognizes that an organization’s diversity is its strength.

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2016

Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense against the 24/7 Work Culture

Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely and Erin M. Reid

It is widely accepted that the conflict women experience between family obligations and professional jobs’ long hours lies at the heart of their stalled advancement. Yet research suggests that this “work-family narrative” is partial at best: men, too, experience work-family conflict and nevertheless advance; moreover, mitigating the conflict through flexible work policies has done little to improve women’s advancement prospects and often hurts them. Drawing on an in-depth case study of a professional service firm, we offer two connected explanations for the work-family narrative’s persistence. We first present data suggesting that this belief has become a “hegemonic narrative”—a pervasive, status-quo-preserving story that is uncontested, even in the face of countervailing evidence. We then take a systems psychodynamic perspective to show how organizations use this narrative and attendant policies and practices as an unconscious “social defense” to help employees fend off anxieties raised by a 24/7 work culture. Due to the social defense, two beliefs remain unchallenged—the necessity of long work hours and the inescapability of women’s stalled advancement. The result is that women’s thin representation at senior levels remains in place.

Keywords: 24/7 work culture; hegemonic narrative; social defense; work-family conflict; systems psychodynamic theory; Equality and Inequality; Organizations; Gender;

Citation:

Padavic, Irene, Robin J. Ely, and Erin M. Reid. "Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense against the 24/7 Work Culture." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-038, October 2016. View Details

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