Notes From a Man's World

A lot of talk goes on about the efforts of accounting firms and other organizations to recruit experienced women back into the work force. These women took a break from promising career tracks in order to raise their children, care for an elder parent or take the lead in handling other family or life situations. These efforts are a big part of the debate we keep hearing about "balance."

Today, I found a column by MSNBC's career writer Eve Tahmincioglu that zeroes in on the challenges men face if they try to do the same thing.

Men have the added problem of trying to return to work in a society that just doesn’t get why they made the decision to leave a budding career in the first place. Even though women face similar discrimination, experts say, society is more accepting of moms making such a choice. Men, on the other hand, are thought of as “unmanly” when they decide the become nurturer and take time away from the traditional hunter role.

If you read descriptions of corporate programs intended to reorient folks for a return to work, they take great pains to point out their efforts are focused on all professionals, regardless of sex. But talk to the people involved and they'll usually allow that, really, their programs are intended for women. Most of the people who've taken these breaks are female, after all, and there's a bit of a diversity issue, too. Companies today are well aware of the demographics of their workforce.

To me, this points out another rub in the arguments about balance, which sound fine on paper, but get stickier when you put them into practice. The fairest and most thoughtful policy can't control how people think and react to situations when they encounter them in the real world. In the last year, I think I've seen one research paper on this, though I'd hoped to see more.

Return to work not easy for stay-at-home dads [MSNBC]