Despite the great strides women have made in the workplace over the past 30 years – with some even securing top executive positions – very few make it to the top of their chosen professions. Half of those who do, often have no children or other care giving responsibilities.
The message for working women everywhere seems clear: the ability to make it to the pinnacle of your profession lies in an either-or game: choose between your career and your family. While society encourages women to take on multiple roles, it also compels them to make a decision about their priorities and the meaning of success in their lives.
The new book published by Wiley-Blackwell, Women at the Top – Powerful Leaders Tell Us How to Combine Work and Family
Using the best psychological research and personal interviews with some 60 top professional career women with families – most of whom currently hold prominent leadership roles in the US, China and Hong Kong – Women at the Top is a compilation of compelling and candid anecdotes of discrimination, disapproval, humor, and above all, personal satisfaction.
Moving testimonies of high-level executives are contrasted to form a comprehensive view of the working woman in modern society, providing a roadmap of sorts to help women navigate through their own challenges. Interviews with the President of Old Navy/Gap, the Chairman of IBM’s management group, China’s Supreme Court Judge, as well as with members of the International Women’s Forum, the All-China Women’s Federation, the National Congress of Women, and the China Association of Women Entrepreneurs, are weaved throughout the book.
Women at the Top provides great reassurance and encouragement for women embarking on the duel tasks of balancing family life and professional ambitions. This book is a sound guide for a balanced life that is not only manageable, but fully rewarding as well.
