Why Women Still Can 't Have It All By Anne Marie Slaughter

"In 1950 about one in three women participated in the labor force. By 1998, nearly three of every five women of working age were in the labor force" (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 4). In 2008, the U.S. Department of labor estimates that women will make up 48% of the workforce (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 6). As the number of women in the workforce rises so do the numbers of women who hold higher titles such as Chairman, CEO, Vice Chairman, President, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President, and Executive Vice President. This number has increased from 7.3% in 2000 to 9.9% in 2002 (Diversity statistics, 2006).

For two years Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of  "Why Women Still Can't Have It All" held a high-profile position in the Washington D.C. commuting daily from her home in New Jersey to her job in D.C. as the first women director to engage the position of policy planning at the State Department.   In her essay, she describes the challenges she faces when trying to balance work with family.   While Slaughter's focus is more on her high-profile career under then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she comes to realize what she experiences is relevant to women in all walks of life.   As a parent and a professional, she confronts the impossible balance in meeting the demands of both roles leading up to the ultimate decision to step down from her government

When you think about women in the work field today, what do you see? A successful lawyer, a doctor, perhaps. That’s true. In fact, there have been more females holding high employment positions in the late 20th and 21st century than ever before. According to Donald M. Fisk in “Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003”, 60% of working-age women worked in the labor force in 1999. That’s 41% more than that of 1900, where only 19% of women worked in the labor force. Among these women, a vast majority have seen their salaries sky-rocket in the past two decades, almost surpassing those of male workers. However, it is not always this way.

Anne-Marie Slaughter constructed the article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” including personal and statistical measures to prove that, though women have come far, they are not to the standard of men. Beginning the article informing of her job as the first female director of policy planning at the State Department in Washington D.C. and the difficulties faced. Consequently, with such a high-profile job and finding herself struggling to balance her 14-year-old son, she made the decision to quit her job after two years. Slaughter pondered her years working in a high power

Anne-Marie Slaughter constructed the article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” including personal and statistical measures to prove that, though women have come far, they are not to the standard of men. She begins the article informing us of her job as the first female director of policy planning at the State Department in Washington D.C. Admittingly, with such a high-profile job and finding herself struggling to balance her 14-year-old son, she made the decision to quit her job after two years. Accordingly, Slaughter pondered her years working in a high power workplace, realizing

It is still common in today’s society to dismiss women’s experiences in the workforce. According to pureresearch.org, women are more likely than men to adjust their career in order to take care of their family. Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article has given me a lot of insight on how America is structured in terms of women in the workforce. She explains in her article “Why Women Can’t Have It All”, the difficulty of keeping a high profile job while taking care of her family. Her experiences is very common among women all over the spectrum of the workforce.

The purpose of this essay is to inform us of the conditions in which millions of women in America, college educated or not, are having to attempt to raise their families and also maintain employment. It offers an explanation as to why many women in high power employment positions are

Being as a first women director of policy planning at the State Department, Slaughter was responsible to take care about her jobs as a parent and professional where she has to meet each role with her highest expectations. Slaughter discusses why to keep the balance of family and work is more difficult for women to perform than men. Her claim is supported by her personal experience in the article where she provides details of her frustrations and troubles in work-family. Slaughter’s article also supports her concerns about the inequality and lack of flexibility in the workplace faced by women daily. Richard Dorment, who responds to Slaughter’s Article, states that Slaughter is condemning American society and men as ones who hold the main culpability

Despite women having to take care of the domestic responsibilities and maintain a successful career, women are making just a mere 64.4% of what their male counterparts make. The inequality leaps off the paper (Julie Cool). Women being in the workforce have created a plethora of problems associated with gender inequality. Additionally aside from the inequalities, the new step for women to balance a home life and a job has brought change in the family structure. Mothers are not just mothers anymore, but are Doctors, Teachers, Entrepreneurs, and politicians as

Perhaps you are saying to yourself "I already knew this but couldn't prove it." Whether or not you could have guessed this information or have possibly lived to tell your own stories about juggling the responsibilities of family-life and work, the underlying and disturbing question is, how can this be so today? How can it be that modern women who have seemingly come so far in becoming recognized as thriving active members of business, politics, and society in general still be struggling with the same gender roles with which their grandmothers dealt? How is it that women have broken out of many of the confines holding them back from the public sphere, but women are still expected to fulfill traditional roles within the private sector?

Women made up 49.83% of the nation’s 132 million jobs in June of 2009; for the first time in American history, “Women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the workforce for the first time, a historic reversal caused by long-term changes in women's roles and massive job losses for men during this recession” (Cauchon). Just as the current recession has impacted the way that women exist in the workforce, so too did past national events influence women’s roles in the workplace. In the early twentieth century, it was rare for women to work outside of the home; World War II, with its incredibly high draft rate, left a labor gap in the United States that made it necessary for women to enter the workforce in record numbers. Although many

With the rise of the modern age economic survival has become difficult for families based on a single income. This economic need along with modern attitudes toward gender equality has resulted in women being represented in the workforce in greater numbers. However, until the 1960’s women faced severe discrimination when trying to enter and maintain a position in the workforce. Often qualified women would be passed over for men with less experience and education. Employers were fearful that women were too emotional and were not equipped to handle the stress of the work environment. Also driving the decision to not hire or promote women was the concern over the additional health care expenses and leave time pregnant

Robert Dorment’s summary from his article talked about that women always complained about men did wrong but men who worked so hard for their family and work-life balance. Richard used that word “castigate” for men that means women scold men, but they did not realize men worked so hard. Other quote about the castigation of men, “…person whose husband, by her own admission, sacrificed much in his own academic career to do other heavy lifting with their children, all so she could pursue her dream job and then complain about it, bitterly, in the pages of a national magazine” (Dorment 708). Anne-Marie Slaughter explained that women who get promotion from other positions that they realized they do not have spent time with their family and some women who leave their jobs because of their family reasons. The quote said, “It is unthinkable that an official would actually step down to spend time with his or her family that this must be a cover for something else” (Slaughter 682). Third article called Women, work and work/life balance: Research roundup talked about the wage inequality and unequal responsibilities between men and women. Women have more family responsibilities than men do because some women are staying at home while taking care of their kids. Last article, Work-Life Balance – An integrated Approach: The case for joint and several responsibility talked about the

These figures demonstrate significant trends in the changing profile of today’s labour pool. Not only are companies forced to recruit and hire from an increasingly diverse workforce, but companies intent on succeeding also will have to retain, motivate and engage the most talented women. Flexible work arrangements are options for helping working mothers integrate work and family responsibilities, so that women can function better both at home and in the workplace.

The generation now has made it easier to equalize men and women but there is still a substantial amount of places where gender inequality is still happening in the workplace and where females still face discrimination. Women are often discriminated in the workplace and are usually not promoted as quickly as men are and they also receive less pay. History shows that women have not always been defined as property and thought of as second class citizens. But in the 21st century many have seen a drastic change in the so called “traditional” family ways where women are suppose to stay home and take care of the household chores, food, and children and men are suppose to work to support their family and provide financial stability. Many assume that in the workplace women are more vulnerable and less competent than men because women 's instincts are to put their family before work or anything else. Whereas men are the ones who will usually stay the late hours to work. People on both sides of the political spectrum and everywhere in between seem to be fearful of what is to come and more fearful of others than they are often willing to admit.