Women at work: Study finds drop in ambition

Previously, I've written about how workplace flexibility is a growing priority for working women, allowing them to climb the corporate ladder while giving birth to and raising children. And recently, a survey conducted by More magazine found that 40 percent of women said they'd take less money for more flexibility. Yet as my colleague Kimberly Weisul mentioned in her summary of the survey, 30 percent of those same women described asking for that flexible schedule as "career suicide". Not exactly encouraging to working moms, is it?

The fact that 43 percent of these women (ages 35 to 60) considered themselves less ambitious than they were a decade ago is a little less surprising to me -- merely because I think that, over time, women realize that a reasonable work-life balance is a worthy goal. (I think this would also be true for many men, as well.) To dig a little deeper into these results, I spoke with Jennifer Braunschweiger, deputy editor of More.

Here's what she says about the study's results.

Were you surprised that more women seem to be rejecting the corner office?

"We were surprised that so many women described themselves as less professionally ambitious than they were 10 years ago. But [the results] also said that women who want a career and a life are ambitious in a different way. That's what's interesting -- valuing time over money may signal a shift in ambition, and the beginning of a more nuanced definition of success, one that takes into account the many facets of a woman's life."

How has the economy contributed to this shift?

"It certainly made a dent [in ambition]. Ambition is in some ways a response to opportunity, and the economy took away a lot of opportunity. Some women lost their jobs. Others still have jobs, but are given more work and less support with which to do it. Also, women may have seen their female bosses devote everything to a career, only to get laid off. We hope that women's professional ambition will return as the economy improves."

Do you think these stats would hold true for women under 35?

"We didn't survey women under 35 so we can't speak for them. However, in many ways, this decline in ambition may be less about age and more about the demands of a specific life stage. You don't have to be over 35 in order to experience conflict between your career, your kids, your marriage, your elderly parents and your own interests. And you don't have to be over 35 to decide that the sacrifices made by the female CEO of your company are not for you."

Your study found that politics, pressure and responsibility cause women in your age group to shy away from pushing for top spots. Why do you think this is?

"We asked women if they would want their boss's job -- 73% said no, and those were among the reasons they could choose from. We don't know exactly how women are interpreting those terms. But the emotion behind them is clear. Over and over, we hear women say, "It's just not worth it." Technology has tethered us to the office, the recession has made the workplace more pressured and less stable -- and some women are finding the rewards don't outweigh the drawbacks."

What are some of the effects of lowered female ambition, for both women and the corporate world?

"The decline in women's professional ambition is not a good thing, for a number of reasons. Numerous studies have shown that companies with more women in leadership positions are more profitable, so American business needs women at top levels to stay competitive. In addition, the Boomers are retiring and Generation X has many fewer people. That will lead to a talent crunch. In order to attract and retain leadership talent, businesses will have to find ways to make top jobs attractive to women. One key way to do that is by offering increased flexibility. Women told us they don't want to work less--but they do want more control over how they work."

More on Moneywatch:

• The end of the mancession: What it means for women
• Study: working mothers have better-behaved daughters
• Maternity leave: 4 tricks for going back to work

[PleasantHacking]

I think more people are waking up to the possibility of 'happiness' not being determined by what you have, but what you DONT HAVE to take care about.

http://pleasanthacking.com/2011/07/03/unsandboxing-yourself/

This is a simple list of people getting off the 'property train' and getting onto 'natural building' to first and formost feel more grounded with nature, and to avoid toxins from mc-mansions... And other things as well to get more control over own life.

[ecruick007]

I don't believe women are less ambitious. I believe that people - men and women - are beginning to value life more and money less, and that comes with maturity. There isn't one person who, on their death bed, wished they had spent more time at the office. There is no prize for attaining the corner office only to find you also have a failed marriage, high blood pressure, and bleeding ulcers - not to mention children who don't remember who you are. And that fact is not gender-biased. Success, like body image, should be fashioned by the individual, and the sooner we as a nation wake up and stop letting other people define it for us, the happier, healthier, and more productive we will be.

[credibility2]

There's no incentive to be an achiever in anything anymore. It's who you know. Then there are the continuing forms of favoritism and affirmative action, which kill any ambition because on the surface these types of programs elevate less qualified and those who should be elevated are ignored and their intellect and achievements are diminished.

[tsigili]

The concept, that women "do it all", is a myth.

The performance of women in the work place, is all about politics, not work. They simply suck up to their bosses, to get special favors, and special treatment, and do very little, in real work.

I can't begin to tell you, how many women in my work place, had special hours, worked only part-time, had telecommute options, or other special treatment, in their jobs. Many of those at higher than average salaries, I might add.

Why? They do what their bosses want them to do, without question, in a cheerful manner.......which basically means they con the boss.