siliconmom.com

home

Getting it right, interview

“Getting it right” Interview with Author Laraine Zappert. 2001. Stanford Professor and mother Laraine Zappert has written a practical book about balancing family life with your career. It draws on a survey of over 300 graduates of the Stanford MBA program and her 25 years of clinical work in the field. She answered the following questions in an exclusive interview for siliconmoms worldwide. SiMom: What kind of solutions do you suggest for "Getting it right". I realize it's not a one size fits all solution, but can you give some basic examples? Zappert: No one has a lock on getting it right. Finding the right balance is a very individual issue. What works for one family, may not work for another. The book is written with the purpose of allowing professional women to assess their own value and resources in their professional and personal life. One example, how we underestimate our needs with respect to child care and/or household help. There is often the sense on the part of the working mother (and sometimes encouraged by her partner) that "when I'm not at work, I shouldn't need childcare" - a situation that often results in a incredibly stressful situation, with no downtime for either adult. SiMom: I'm interested in your personal struggle to combine family with career. What particular wisdom did you learn from your work that you put into practice at home? Zappert: Obviously, I learn a lot about the human experience from my work, and that is what makes it so engaging. I think my work has helped me to be more appreciative, realistic, and maybe even a little more relaxed, with myself and my family. SiMom: Anything you would have done differently? Zappert: I wish I could have figured out a way to keep my kids little forever. I've loved every minute of being a mom and continue to do so! SiMom: I liked your description of the 3 phases of women's work issues over the last decades: "How can I become a doctor?; Can I..?; and Do I want to..?" Do you have predictions for the future? Is it getting easier? What will the next phase be? Zappert: I think the "do I want to...?" is being answered right now, and I'm seeing a more value-based assessment of work and work environments by both women and men. Obviously the current economic climate may affect our choices, but I do think that both sexes are creatively seeking healthier, more fulfilling lives for themselves and their families. SiMom: You found that many women indicated that their careers had been enhanced by being parents. (That's great news) Can you elaborate on this? In what ways were they enhanced? Zappert: Actually it's 48% who felt that their careers had been enhanced by their being parents. For many women the career upside involved being better able to set and stick to priorities, having a healthier perspective on life, being less defined by one's work, and being a better, more compassionate manager by virtue of surviving a two year old! SiMom: Time away from the workplace. Did your survey cover how this impacted mothers? Ann Crittenden's book painted a gloomy picture, are your findings in agreements? Did any of your respondents have good suggestions for changing the misconceptions of their stay home time and using it to their advantage? Zappert: Interestingly, the women who had been in the workforce the longest, our Pioneer group, were actually the most optimistic about a woman's ability to balance their personal/ professional priorities. These women suggest that professional women take a longerterm perspective in assessing the cost of current career decisions. As one woman wrote," ... There is a small window for having a child, but you can work for at least 40 years. Careers evolve and develop in ways you can't begin to imagine...". They strongly encouraged women to view their lives as a developing process over the entire life cycle. Lots more info in Chapter 5 of “Getting it right”. About the author: Laraine Zappert is the mother of two and clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, California. Her book “Getting it right: How working mothers successfully take up the challenge of life, family and career” was published in February this year. See www.drzappert.com © Siliconmom 2001

home

Dr Zappert's website. Click Here.