Linda Duxbury is a professor at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University. About 20 years ago, she and some colleagues did a study on women who work part time. They were trying to understand whether it helps ease the conflict between the responsibilities at work and the responsibilities to their families. In Australia, where I've done some research, they've got the highest reliance on female part time professional work.
There are a lot of reasons working part time might make sense: among them, you have more hours in the week to take care of kids or parents, take on freelance work, go back to school. But working part time can stall career advancement, and oftentimes women end up doing a full-time job for half the pay while taking on more responsibilities at home.
We speak with Linda Duxbury about the problems she’s seen some professional women run into when they work part time. She suggests factors to consider before reducing your hours and conversations that can smooth the transition. We also talk to an incredibly organized consultant and mother of three whose part-time schedule hasn’t kept her from getting promoted.
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Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.