Female Ambition: How to Reconcile Work and Family

197 Pages·2006·0.64 MB·English

by  Nuria Chinchilla

Female Ambition
How to Reconcile Work and Family
Nuria Chinchilla and Consuelo León
Female Ambition
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Female Ambition
How to Reconcile Work and Family
Nuria Chinchilla
and
Consuelo León
© Nuria Chinchilla and Consuelo León 2005
Foreword © Lotte Bailyn 2005
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified
as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2005 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–9178–2
ISBN-10: 1–4039–9178–2
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chinchilla Albiol, Ma. Nuria (María Nuria)
[Ambición femenia. English]
Female ambition:how to reconcile work and family/by Nuria Chinchilla
and Consuelo León.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–9178–2 (cloth)
1. Work and family. 2. Working mothers. 3. Women in the
professions. I. León, Consuelo. II. Title.
HD4904.25.C4613 2005
331.4′4—dc22 2005049815
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne
To you, women, who struggle to be an agent of change
To you, men, who believe in women and share this ambition
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Contents
List of Tables ix
Foreword by Lotte Bailyn xi
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
An agreement between two 3
Companies: a change of mentality 4
1 Being a Woman in the Twenty-first Century 7
The history of women and feminism 7
Men and women: personal complementariness 11
The family today 14
Women, work and family: a triangle in constant evolution 18
2 The Family: Current Situation and Legal Framework 25
New times: things have changed 27
The legal framework: aid, state policies and legislation 30
Some developments towards flexibility in Europe 38
Types of countries in terms of aid 39
3 Women: Agents of Change? 50
What gets in the way of female ambition? 53
The glass ceiling 66
...and the cement ceiling 69
Female values: more humane companies? 73
4 Work and Family: Can They be Reconciled? 79
A life trajectory with a professional career 79
Dual-income couples: problems and perspectives 80
vii
viii Contents
The family as a resource or problem 83
The family: a school of competencies 87
Work–family conflicts: who is responsible? 90
Talking with the stakeholders 95
5 Family-responsible Companies 107
Pro-family values, programmes and policies 108
The measures, one by one: case studies and solutions 111
Towards a family-responsible company (FRC) 121
6 The Secret of Personal Leadership 128
Emotional intelligence 131
Wanting is being able 132
Motivational conflicts and learning 134
Affective maturity 137
Success and personal life 139
The success of women and the family 142
7 Managing Personal, Family and Professional Time:
How to Accomplish Everything 145
Time thieves 145
How to avoid overloading and stress 150
The personal mission 154
Learning to ‘make a family’ 159
Activity and reflection 161
How to make our time at work more profitable 163
Notes 169
Index 176
List of Tables
1.1 Characteristics of three historical stages concerning
the organization of work 16
2.1 Four models of family policies 40
2.2 The current situation in Spain 41
4.1 Balance between family and professional life 94
5.1 Four different types of company and their
effect on human ecology 123
5.2 The family-responsible business model 125
6.1 Four types of people and life situations 141
7.1 The seven habits of highly effective people 157
ix