Why women's tech careers bloom in autumn
And now you know, you can prepare
‘Childcare’ is one of those words employers don’t quite know how to handle. On the one hand, your employee is celebrating a new phase of their life and you should celebrate with them; on the other, it means massive disruption to their working patterns.
Despite the progress made since the turn of the century in terms of shared parental leave and co-parenting, most of the childcare burden still falls on women. It's not unusual for new mothers' careers to stall because of this: working at your maximum potential while also looking after a toddler is the sort of thing only non-parents think is possible.
But - argues Alex Foster, newly appointed Director of BT's Division X - employers shouldn't forget about these women (and, in some cases, men); there comes a time every year when they are revitalised.
"When it comes to autumn, September is a month where women have this sort of moment where they can really look at their future. Why is it they can look at their future? Well, it's the first time that they've got moments of freedom. It's the first time that somebody's child goes to nursery or goes to primary school or goes to secondary school or goes to university.
"As a consequence of that the time that perhaps has been used to multitask - all of that energy can be focused on a woman's career. It's an opportunity for organisations, but it's also the opportunity for women to really take this moment, when highly skilled, highly educated women have this sort of burst of energy."
Embracing 'finally free'
Many efforts to bring more women into the IT industry focus on encouraging younger people into careers in the first place. That's a laudable aim, but it glosses over the women who are already present: the women who, every September (in the UK at least), have a huge opportunity in terms of time and energy recovered.
"As an industry, we can start to lean into that and actually recognise that we've got a huge proportion of the population who are then chomping at the bit to accelerate, to continue to learn, to grow just as their children are growing in terms of school, or that they've got the freedom of not having that responsibility."
As children move on to a new stage in their own life, their parents have what Alex calls a 'finally free' moment. Leaving for university - or to start their own home - is the most "pure liberation," but children starting nursery or school are their own energising moments: a sort of phased progression towards women kickstarting their own careers again.
Recognising these moments as potential acceleration points in people's professional lives - though we could have a separate conversation about career progression being dependent on children leaving the nest - is key to helping them seize the opportunity of the 'finally free' moments.
"Women in their 40s and 50s...have been multitasking 24/7 on the management of everything in terms of our careers, our home life - so much that actually just the energising effect [of children leaving home] gives you that.
"If you think about it, now, the retirement age is 67. I think quite often people forget that. So actually, at that time when you get these moments of freedom, you might still have 27 years left of your career. That's a long time, but organisations don't think, 'Oh my God, I've got 27 years of when somebody is muscled up with that multitasking and muscled up in terms of wanting to grow.'"
And it's not like the world lacks role models for women in the latter half of their careers. In politics Alex points to Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Sahle-Work Zewde, President of Ethiopia; and Ursula von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The tech space has a host of inspiring women, too.
"I feel like I'm just starting to get to get towards my peak
None of this is to say that parents won't miss their children when they're gone, despite the trail of mess and chaos they leave in their wake. It's about acknowledging the empty spot they leave behind and utilising the excess energy many women have in their absence.
Women's careers are not, as commonly characterised, a sprint; instead, says Alex, they're more like an Ironman challenge, with lots of different phases. And she should know; she's just entering her own next phase:
"For me, my son passed his A-levels this year - hoorah - so he's off to university, my daughter is off to university, so I can absolutely tell you, I am personally gearing up for another two or three decades [in work]. I feel, personally, I've got my own moment of freedom... I'm ready. I'm pumped. I feel like I'm just starting to get to get towards my peak, whereas perhaps some of my male colleagues might feel like they've achieved their peak. I'm like, 'No, I'm only just in second gear.'"
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