The Washington Post ran a terrific article yesterday entitled, "After a Baby, Full Time or Part?" written by former Life at Work columnist Amy Joyce. (Yup, she had a baby and adjusted her career a bit.) Her article explores the choices some women in DC have made in order to balance careers and young children.
In the article, Ms. Joyce uses a phrase I hadn't heard before - career as a lattice instead of a ladder. The concept comes from Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute. Ms. Joyce writes:
"Women are "redesigning careers to be a lattice instead of a ladder," said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute. If you view your career as a ladder and you jump off, Galinsky said, it's hard to get back on. The idea of a lattice implies more flexibility."
Hmmm - that really grabbed me! Not only is "lattice" a nice visual metaphor, it also relates to the idea that it takes a village to raise a child, something these young mothers will encounter on a larger scale when they try to coordinate soccer carpools and scouting field trips a few years from now.
It's a quick read and includes a nice list of websites for working mothers and a good "How Do I" question and answer section on some of the financial implications, both of which are accessible through the Post's free subscription.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
New Look, New Focus
Callinan the Librarian has a new look, designed to complement the soon-to-be launched new website over at Axelroth & Associates. I joined Joan Axelroth and Mary Talley last year and have enjoyed our association enormously. Joan hired me to work at Crowell & Moring in 1985 so we go way back. Mary and I just feel like we go way back. Together we're making the world better for librarianship!
I'm enjoying our work so much that my efforts to balance life and work have taken a bit of hit. I could work all the time -- and would if I hadn't made so many other commitments. Is over-committing a valid technique to achieve work-life balance? I don't know, but this is one of the many questions I want to explore with our community. Accordingly, I'm officially shifting the focus of this blog to issues of workplace flexibility and balancing acts, how we cope now and how coping has changed in the wake of Web 2.0.
So if you're reading this post, please take a minute to answer the survey question I'm using to inaugurate this line of inquiry:
Once we have a lay of the land, we'll work through the related questions, like what works and what doesn't, what makes you crazy and what keeps you sane.
And if you do answer the survey, please spread the word to your librarian pals so they can join us in this discussion.
Off to pick up a crew of kids from basketball practice!
I'm enjoying our work so much that my efforts to balance life and work have taken a bit of hit. I could work all the time -- and would if I hadn't made so many other commitments. Is over-committing a valid technique to achieve work-life balance? I don't know, but this is one of the many questions I want to explore with our community. Accordingly, I'm officially shifting the focus of this blog to issues of workplace flexibility and balancing acts, how we cope now and how coping has changed in the wake of Web 2.0.
So if you're reading this post, please take a minute to answer the survey question I'm using to inaugurate this line of inquiry:
Does librarianship offer opportunities for work-life balance?
Once we have a lay of the land, we'll work through the related questions, like what works and what doesn't, what makes you crazy and what keeps you sane.
And if you do answer the survey, please spread the word to your librarian pals so they can join us in this discussion.
Off to pick up a crew of kids from basketball practice!
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