The Glass Ceiling of Home

In addition, many corporations now are willing to adjust to a talented, well-trained woman’s needs in order to keep her on the roster. At Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), 10 percent of the firm’s female partners are on a part-time schedule. Further, officials at some firms insist that stepping off the fast track does not mean career suicide. Going part-time, according to career counselors, “might slow your progress, but it won’t prohibit you” from climbing the career ladder.

Some women choose to complete graduate degrees or learn specific skills while their children are young so that they are better prepared to re-enter the workplace when their children are older. Others choose to become entrepreneurs so that they can be their own boss and set their own hours; women-owned businesses grew by 14 percent from 1997 to 2002 (compared to a seven percent growth in U.S. businesses overall). Perhaps more startling is the fact that these women-owned businesses are growing enough to increase their hiring by 30 percent (compared to other businesses at 18 percent nationwide). Also surprising is that in more than a quarter of two-income households, the wife is now the primary breadwinner.

These individual and/or economic factors, though, apparently have little to do, ultimately, with the success of a woman’s choice. The Heritage Foundation’s Family Fact 8219 reveals a surprising key to a woman’s happiness. A wife’s career success pales in comparison to a husband’s attitudes in breaking the glass ceiling of home. A husband’s beliefs about family, the value of marriage, desire for children and respect for traditional gender roles determines whether a wife reports happiness with the love and affection of her husband. This family fact may reveal more about the career choices being made by today’s well-educated women than all the statistics and workplace data. In the final analysis, perhaps breaking the ceiling at home is more important to women than breaking the corporate ceilings.