Women at the Top Blog

“Having it all” has come to be used as the description of a lifestyle – implicitly only pertaining to women – that combines a career and family life, without shortchanging either. Indeed, much of the debate about women at the top pivots on this ideal, or impossibility, depending on your viewpoint.

Given that it’s nearly Christmas, a time when work is traditionally put on hold and families gather, I thought this was a worthy topic for my final post of the year.

In a previous post, I picked up on the views of Catherine Hakim  from the London School of Economics, who argues that women can’t have it all. She insists that women must choose between having a family and pursuing an executive career. And she’s not alone. The actress Emma Thompson recently told the US edition of Good Housekeeping magazine that the ideal of perfectly balancing work and home life was “false”.

“I don’t want your readers ever to think they have to have it all. I think that’s a revolting concept,” she said, explaining how she and her husband Greg Wise, also an actor, take turns to care for their daughter, Gaia.

Responding to the debate, Jo Lyons, co-founder and director at Talking Talent, an executive coaching company, spoke for many when she commented: “But why should women have to choose between the two? It is very possible for women to combine a top job with having a family, but it takes careful planning, realistic long term career goals and the knowledge that not everything can be achieved at once.”

It is 92 years since women in England won the right to vote (that is women over 30 – they had to wait another 10 years before being allowed to vote, as men, at 21), 52 years since the Life Peerages Act opened the doors of the House of Lords to women and 35 years since the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made it illegal to discriminate on grounds of sex or marital status in recruitment, promotion and training.

A contemporaneous report from the BBC reminds us, too, how much of an impact The Equal Pay Acts of 1970 and 1983 have had on women’s earnings: “Despite the gradual introduction of equal pay until its final implementation today women’s earnings have risen to only 55.5 per cent of men’s earnings from 51.1 per cent in 1972.”

There is no doubt that legislation has made it easier for women to take their place in all areas of corporate, public and academic endeavour. But it wasn’t always so. I am writing this from home at 6.30am with my three seven year-olds straining to contain their excitement at the rapidly growing pile of presents under the Christmas tree and Scooby-Doo audible beyond my study door. Is this having it all? Or is it more a life shared by millions of women across the world that balances and compromises an imperfect but workable mix of career and private life.

On this note, can I wish Happy Holidays to all readers of this blog.