These women are not anomalies
Photo by Dwayne joe on Unsplash
I’ve seen it over and over again: Women entering corporate roles after years of caregiving at home and absolutely knocking the socks off of their peers and managers. They solve problems no one even saw, drive efficiencies like nobody’s business, and slay their goals.
These women are not anomalies.
To catch you up, my very impressive sister, a stay-at-home mom of 7, recently inspired me to share some of what's behind two observations from working in both places:
Moms entering the workforce bring a unique set of skills.
Their time doing unpaid labor at home should be valued for the leadership and management experience that it is.
We need to stop pretending women "staying home" aren't working. Their experience translates to real value, and it’s value we actually pay top dollar for in the corporate world.
My sister's resume, if you took out the "where" and just listed her responsibilities, skills, and achievements, would land her a corporate leadership role making very good money.
And she’d be good at it too. Because the talents and characteristics you develop to run a successful household are the same ones needed to perform at the highest levels in business.
We’ve just cleverly decided not to count this kind of work experience if it's done in the home.
No one did this intentionally, and it’s something we can decide to change. But first we need to look at what purpose it’s serving in society.
Who does it serve to keep perpetuating the notion that the value of a mother’s work can’t be calculated?
What would it disrupt if we did calculate it?