HD6060-.A84-2008-PDF-Athena-factor-Reversing-the-brain-drain-in-science,-engineering,-and-technology

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The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology HBR Research Report Chapter 6: Extreme Jobs Jennifer, who has a PhD in microbiology, began her career at a pharmaceuticals company in the Midwest, first doing research then moving to the clinical side, where she found a good niche for herself—one where she could both do intellectually challenging work and feel as though she was contributing to society. A few years later Jennifer married, and she and her husband (a colleague at work) had their first child. At about the same time the company restructured, and Jennifer was offered a job at another location—which would have meant living apart from her family. With some regret she turned that opportunity down, taking a job at another company. Her new position required international travel, but Jennifer managed to cope because her business trips “while long, were relatively infrequent.” Then a second child was born. According to Jennifer, that’s when “the mommy syndrome really kicked in. It was hard for me to travel at all—partly because I now had two small children and partly because of a move to a new community (my husband took a job at an East Coast pharmaceuticals firm) where I had no support network.” Jennifer realized she and her husband could not both have ambitious careers and reluctantly scaled down her own career expectations. In her words, “I decided to have a job instead of a career.” So she got a nontraveling job at the same firm where her husband worked and moved out of research into technical writing. After two years in her new job, the company decided to move the technical-writing division to India to cut costs, and Jennifer and her colleagues were forced to spend 18 months training their replacements. Disillusioned, Jennifer has decided she is better off staying home with her children. “I’ll come back in three or four years when they’re teenagers,” she says, “and then I just want one of those jobs where I can put in some hours, punch the clock, and go home.” Her talent completely underutilized, Jennifer’s experiences have wrung the ambition out of her. According to CWLP research on the high-echelon labor market, work pressures have become more extreme in recent years: A growing proportion of managerial workers travel extensively, put in long hours, and deal with 24/7 client demands.42 Extreme work pressures are now present across industrial sectors and across stages of a worker’s life. The Athena Factor survey data show that high-echelon SET jobs are more extreme than the norm. As illustrated in figure 6.1, women in science, engineering and technology are more likely than women in other sectors to be coping with 100-hour workweeks (8% versus 3%), dealing with 24/7 customer demands (36% versus 26%), and working across multiple time zones (54% versus 14%).43 Some of the findings are eye-catching. More than one-third need to be responsive to clients, customers, or colleagues around the clock, and more than two-thirds feel enormous pressure to put in a great deal of face time. Being tethered to the lab is a particular complaint of women in science-based companies, where 79% report onerous face-time pressure. Jobs in technology and engineering come with heavy-duty global demands: Engineers and technologists are twice as likely as scientists to work across multiple time zones. Athena Factor survey research, which focuses on women in global science, engineering, and technology companies, found that women in large engineering and technology companies log even more onerous hours than SET women overall (see figure 6.3).44 However, women in the global pharmaceutical company we surveyed fared slightly better than their counterparts in global manufacturing and high tech. Extreme Work Pressures Disproportionately Affect Women Women are more affected than men by the extreme pressures of SET jobs. Long workweeks, global responsibilities, and 24/7 client demands make it difficult for both parents in a family to hold on to ambitious careers. Participants in several focus groups identified with the “two-body problem”— the issues that arise when spouses have similar credentials.45 Spouses can be competing for seniority at work (more pay, a better title) or seniority at home (more support, fewer chores). Either way, male needs are often prioritized, at least in part because at the same time women 31
The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology HBR Research Report FIGURE 6.1 Extreme Job Pressures: Women in SET Compared with All Sectors 80 70 71% 60 50 54% 40 30 20 10 0 8% 3% 36% 26% 14% 19% Work more than 100 hours per week Need to be available 24/7 Work with or manage colleagues in multiple time zones Feel pressure to put in extensive face time SET All sectors FIGURE 6.2 Extreme Job Pressures: Women Across SET 80 60 40 20 36% 79% 74% 63% 64% 66% 53% 50% 31% 36% 41% 30% 0 Work more than 50 hours per week Need to be available 24/7 Work with or manage colleagues in multiple time zones Feel pressure to put in extensive face time Science Engineering Technology 32
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HD6060-.A84-2008-PDF-Athena-factor-Reversing-the-brain-drain-in-science,-engineering,-and-technology

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