A Tightrope Walk The Challenges of Balancing Personal & Professional Lives Ms. LEENA LEON Lecturer, St. Teresas College, Cochin

2 Acknowledgements SHAKTI (Womens Wing of Vijnana Bharathi) The Survey Participants Madhurima Bhatia (Sr. Manager, Synovate India) Sankara Pillai (Pathfinders, India) Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

3 Today women have entered and are successful in almost all professions and the number of such women are increasing every year. Gender discrimination and lesser pay for women are something in the past (except for the unorganized sector). Women are treated as equals in most professions. Men are quite used to have women as their superiors, colleagues and subordinates. Introduction Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

4 Introduction At home, women are still expected to perform as caring daughters, obedient wives, good mothers, and loyal workers. As the society and family demands more from women, women had to work harder often performing multiple roles simultaneously. This multi-tasking act, if not done properly can lead to stress, strain, and eventual burnout. To survive in this competitive and demanding world, women have to find the right balance between her work life and personal life. Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

5 Current Scenario The number of working women in India is increasing at a very rapid rate a 10% growth between 1993 and (Source: Source: P:SNAP, A study by Pathfinders) The number of women holding important and influential positions is also increasing. 14.9% of the Indian women earn more money than their husbands (Source: Synovate Study of 375 working women in 7 cities, 2006) 25% of women in US and Europe earn more than their spouses. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, 2006) Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

6 Current Scenario 49.5% women have no guilt about not being with their children all the time and 72.1% of women preferred to work if given a choice.* 72.6% of the women would not postpone motherhood because of their career.* Women worked primarily for self satisfaction and money (65.2%)* Source: Synovate Study of 375 working women in 7 cities, 2006 Working women found professional recognition, success, respect and status more important than money. Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

7 Work-Life Balance Work-life balance is a self-defined, self-determined state of well being that a person can reach, or can set as a goal, that allows her to manage effectively multiple responsibilities. Those who have balance are satisfied and healthy physically, emotionally, and socially,and have a sense of control over their life. When you do not have balance you feel constantly tired, feeling like you are running uphill all the time and getting nowhere, and you feel like you have no choices or control. Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

8 Work-Life Balance The more out of balance and out of control your life is, the longer hours you work. The more intense your work experience, the greater the likelihood is that you pay a physical and emotional price. When you dont have work-life balance, you have a greater likelihood of having relationships that are either unhealthy or unstable, and that are more prone to breaking apart. Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

9 Work-Life Balance Initiatives Simply put, work-life balance initiatives are any benefits, policies, or programs that help create a better balance between the demands of the job and the healthy management (and enjoyment) of life outside work. These initiatives can and should happen at four levels: Society Organization Family Personal Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

10 Work-Life Balance Initiatives Technology can help women becoming more productive. Some of the productivity improvement tools and technologies are: Telecommuting Flexitime On-line Shopping Internet Banking Concierge and Hospitality Services can help women by doing the jobs for her (like cooking, cleaning, washing, bill payments, etc.) Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

11 Participants: Professionals between 25 – 55 years Methodology: Survey using a semi-structured questionnaire. Interviews: Face-to-face (personal) and over Phone Locations: Cochin, Trivandrum, Chennai, Bangalore Sample size: 100 Survey Methodology Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

12 Profession-wise Distribution of the Survey Participants Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

13 DESCRIPTIONAVERAGEMAXMIN Age Experience Husbands Age Age Difference Years Married Age at Marriage No. of Children1.630 No. of members in the family3.871 Survey Participants Details Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

14 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Yes No Do you own property in your name? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

15 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Account in your name Joint account with your husband Do you have a bank account? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

16 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Yes No Do you drive? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

17 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Yes No Do you own a car? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

18 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore All12101 Between 75 & Between 50 & Between 25 & Less than What percentage of your income do you spend for yourself? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

19 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Yes No Dont Know / Cant Say Do you earn more than your husband? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

20 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Work Home Dont Know / Cant Say Would you prefer to work or stay at home? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

21 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Husband Children Mother Mother-in-law34521 What is your main support system? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

22 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Above What is the best age to get married? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

23 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Above What is the best age to have children? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

24 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Never times times More than 5 times How often do you exercise in a week? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

25 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Morning/Evening Walk Indoor game like TT Jogging Workout at the Gym Swimming76499 Yoga Others What is your preferred exercise? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

26 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Travel/Picnic Beauty Parlor Spending time with Family Reading78668 TV Music Shopping What is your favorite method of unwinding? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

27 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Self-esteem, self- satisfaction, recognition, etc Money Both of the above What is your primary motivation for working? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

28 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Mobile phone100 Computer Internet On-line Shopping On-line Bill Payments Internet Banking Credit Cards Debit/ATM Cards Automatic Washing M/c100 Microwave Oven100 Other Gadgets100 What kind of gadgets/technology you use for productivity improvement? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

29 AllCochinTVMChennaiBangalore Domestic Help100 Concierge/Hospitality Services Daycare/Crèche Laundry/Ironing Services Gardeners Home Delivery of Food Eating Out What other mechanisms you use to save time? Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

30 Conclusion Todays working women balance their personal and professional careers quite comfortablythanks to supporting husbands, helping children, advancements in technology, and help from the service industry. Many highly qualified professionals are not working because they are not allowed by the family/society or because they didnt like the profession. To avoid this, women should be allowed to choose what they want to become and then given all assistance to achieve that goal. Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

31 Conclusion Almost all women stressed the importance of bringing up their children in such an environment where gender differences ceased to exist and both boys and girls were treated equally and shared work equally so that they would find it easy to share the responsibilities. Working women could balance their personal and professional lives with the help, support, and encouragement of their family, judicious use of technology and getting outside help to do the chores for which they do not have time or do not want to spend time. Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.

32 Thank You for your time… Copyright © 2006 Leena Leon. All rights reserved.