Daily Real Estate News January 30, 2007
Women Take Control of Work Schedules
More professional women are remaining in the work force by negotiating flexible work arrangements or choosing an entrepreneurial career path, such as real estate, which gives them more control over their schedules. Not only are women staying in the work force, but those who use flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting, flexible hours, limited traveling, and evening work, haven’t suffered a loss of income, according to a recent study by Boston’s Simmons School of Management, the nation’s only business school designed for women. Expect More to Follow Suit“Women are shifting the career paradigm and leading the way for how all employees in the future will take more control over managing their careers,” says lead study author, Mary Shapiro, professor of management. “They’re no longer acting as agents of their employers, but as career ‘self-agents,’ using flexible work arrangements and setting their own terms as a way to make ‘work work.’” Study findings are contrary to the popular belief that “women are opting out of the work force in droves,” says Shapiro, noting that this perception is “a myth based on a handful of anecdotes in the popular press.”Rather, she says, the study found that:
More than 90 percent of the women surveyed have used some kind of flexible working arrangement during their career, and 88 percent did so primarily to remain employed full time.
Only 18 percent reported voluntarily leaving the work force at some point in their careers.
Only 2 percent reported using flexible work arrangements that limited employment to part time.
About 85 percent were responsible for at least half the household income.Real Estate Still a Flexible OptionStill, “women leave corporate America because it’s so rigid,” Shapiro says. That's why so many opt for real estate, which she says is probably the first career in which women acted as self agents. And until organizations change, she adds, career paths such as real estate will remain a popular choice. — By Camilla McLaughlin for REALTOR® Magazine Online