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As Rosie proved, what matters most is the ability to get the job done. What matters least is whether a man or a woman is doing it. Yet, ironically, that is what we have come to focus on. Page 11 A Way Out Rosabeth Moss Kanter in Men and Women of the Corporation put forth the hopeful hypothesis that sheer numbers of women in the work force could overcome this problem. Once a critical mass of women had been achieved in any organization, she surmised, people would stop seeing them as women and evaluate their work as managers.

Still, if the firm fails to make Ross a partner, it risks losing the investment it has made in her skills and talents. " As this case illustrates, the demands of motherhood often clash head on with the demands of a culture that assumes 12-15 hour days as a demonstration of loyalty and commitment. Viewed in this light, motherhood is just another barrier for women who must be able to fit themselves into jobs that were originally designed for men with wives at home. Organizations have clearly failed to catch up with the vast social movements that have forever changed the American landscape.

Women are forced to abandon years of investment in a particular company, while the corporation loses a well-trained employee. But more important, the company loses an opportunity to learn about the environment in which their employees must operate when it refuses to hear negative feedback. Page xix The Balancing Act The stress that women feel at work is compounded when there are children at home. Indeed, while many women leave corporations because they are simply fed up with trying to fight back or exhausted from trying to fit in, many more leave to raise children.