The Four Phases of a Woman's Career

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As they grew older and as the children left, these women suddenly discovered, much to their surprise, that they were facing their best career decades not looking back at them. And so suddenly their careers were kind of take off, and they'd set up new businesses or write books or start travelling the globe. At te same time that their spouses were, often who had had a much more linear career cycle with a lot of intensity and unbroken sort of up or out, from 30 to 50,. Were starting to think about retirement and starting to thinkabout slowing down and playing golf and getting on a cruise ship. Those two dreams can not be mutually complimentary, and they can come as a bit of

Simmering resentments over whose career comes first. Bickering over household tasks. Arguments over who should pick up the kids this time. This is the portrait of two-career coupledom in much of the popular media. But for a lot of couples, the reality is much rosier. Mutually supportive relationships let us take career risks, help us be more resilient to setbacks, and even “lean in” at work. In this episode, we talk with three experts to help us paint a picture of what a truly supportive dual-career relationship looks like, and understand how to get our own relationships closer to that ideal. Guests: Jennifer Petriglieri, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, and Stephanie Coontz. Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network. For links to the articles mentioned in this episode, as well as other information about the show, visit hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work.