The Stigma of Working Part-Time

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I worry that the longer you're on part-time, the more you fall behind in terms of critical training you need to stay current. I think Canada is quite different from the states. We have much more liberal social policies so we have one year paid parental leave. So people are already used to mothers and often fathers taking time off at the birth of a child. When they come back, there's not seem to be as much stigma.

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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