This episode we're exploring some of the questions and tensions around being a single childless woman in the workplace. We'll talk with Tracy Dumas later in the show about the challenges that single childless women often face at work. First, my conversation with the woman who's been reflecting a lot lately about her own singlehood, Shaney Silver.
If you aren’t married and don’t have kids, people at work might assume a lot of things: that you can stay late at the office, that you can’t possibly understand their stories about parenthood, that you just haven’t found the right partner (ugh). But those assumptions are often false. Single childless women have busy lives, close relationships with children like nieces or nephews — and many don’t want coupledom or motherhood.
We talk to two women who’ve been researching and writing about being a single childless professional. The writer Shani Silver shares her experience with the career pros and cons, and then Tracy Dumas, a professor at Ohio State University, gives research-backed advice for responding to bias and unrealistic expectations.
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