Are Professional Women "Opting Out" of Work by Choice?

"Are Professional Women "Opting Out" of Work by Choice?"
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"Are Professional Women "Opting Out" of Work by Choice?"
With the perceived acceptance of gender equality in the twenty-first century, women greatly identify with professional roles with many women securing better paying jobs in the employment sectors all over the world. Today, women’s occupational aspirations have grown and become comparable to those of men. However, the trend has emerged of many women leaving their employment for other activities that are not related to their professional jobs. This has raised many questions on whether such women opt out of their work by choice or being forced by consequences. This paper seeks to analyze various ideas of different authors on the matter, to help in the understanding of the issue. The paper will focus on both the points that support and reject the subject matter, pinpointing the various strengths and weaknesses of the explanations in order to present a substantial conclusion.
One of the major reasons why women opt out of work by choice is the desire to take care of their families. For women with small kids, research has indicated that the majority of them have difficulty focusing on both their caring responsibilities and professional job (Berger, 2011). The divided attention results to unyielding roles and this force the women to choose the role they care about, most. Although many may not find it better in terms of improving their life situation, most of them find it as making things simpler. Dedicating oneself to caring for children and family is more rewarding for women. Most of them would love to see their children growing while receiving considerable care and love, which can only be ensured when the mother spends most of her time dedicated to being with her children. Although Nowell (2006) believes that women can still achieve taking good care of their families by balancing their job roles and domestic roles, psychologists assert that women place value in caring for their children and many prefer to do it themselves. This has the advantage of creating a happy family united by love and care, where the women benefits by knowing she has a well looked after family that is happy. That is the desire of every woman (Berger, 2011).
Decisions to start own businesses also contributes to women opting out of employment by choice. Young (2004) believes that just as men, the modern woman has the desire to prosper in life, which has increased her risk capability that inspires one to venture in areas that were previously associated with men. Most of the modern women would want to venture into self-employment, midlife career changes, and entrepreneurship. Women are trying to find ways to be more independent with flexibility and freedom to do both domestic roles and work. This is viewed as revolutionary way of living among women associated with women empowerment and independence (Young, 2004). While it has its benefits, the demanding domestic chores, especially that of caring for children, may pose challenges to such women preventing them from yielding many benefits from either of the roles.
Although many women fight hard to progress and develop in their professional careers, various factors exist to discourage most of them from pursuing their dreams as professionals. One of such factors pertains to traditional stereotypes, which cultivate gender inequalities in workforce participation and advancement. According to Summers, Eikhof, and Carter (2013), traditional stereotypes of perceived women’s work tend to continue influencing women’s gendered career choices. This forces them to identify with professionals that draw on feminine attributes. Unlike men who are perceived to be objective professionals, women are considered emotional and so are expected to take on emotional labor such as advisers’ work and easy office duties. When employment is influenced by such perceptions, women roles are devalued. The experiences of such professional inequalities prompt women to leave their professional careers unwillingly, retreating to domestic roles bearing in mind that such frustrations cannot allow them to prosper and advance in their much desired career life.
The media have also played a major part in forcing women to opt out of their professional careers. Media influence on appearance and age, contribute to identities th...