It’s Our Dad

I have many role models, some famous, some not. Most of them are women. Especially after I became a mother, I looked to mothers with different kinds of jobs and different kinds of philosophies as examples as I figured out my own path.  But, if I had to choose one role model, there is no doubt it would be my father.

His work ethic is enviable; his modesty even more so.  He doesn’t need public praise or external validation.  In fact, he wouldn’t like it if I told him I was writing this essay.  He never talked about working hard to us, his six kids, but he did not have to.  We all knew.  We knew that the comfortable life we had was in suburban Long Island because of that hard work.  My father lived the American dream, or North American dream — he is Canadian, after all.  He climbed the socioeconomic ladder though his hard work in a way that is lamentably rare today. Continue reading It’s Our Dad

Much Ado About Going to the Office

I was interviewed in a piece on NPR today by Jennifer Ludden on Marisa Mayer’s now infamous “work from home memo,” available here.

Four  points on the backlash:

1- Attack on Flexibility:  This memo was perceived as taking something away that employees have gained in today’s workplace, something that innovation has enabled.  And it’s more than just working from home – flexibility and remote work policies often go hand in hand and people, working mothers in particular, conflate them.  They viewed this memo as an attack on flexibility as well.   Studies show that most working moms want to work flexibly, or part time.  That’s why the backlash was particularly harsh among female bloggers. Continue reading Much Ado About Going to the Office