Mothers on the fast track

the long version

This volume traces the career paths of the first generation of ambitious women who started careers in academia, law, medicine, business, and the media in large numbers in the 1970s and '80s. The authors point out that many highly educated women drop out of the career pipeline that leads men (and some women who sacrifice family life) to the top echelons of academia, law, business, etc. The implications of this feminized brain drain are as profound for the welfare of our nation as they are for the welfare of women and children. The authors argue that meaningful measures of gender equity must include not only women's equal representation in corporate boardrooms and at university podiums but also women's (and men's) ability to sustain satisfactory family lives without being relegated to second-class status -- without the either/or proposition too many ambitious women face. The authors propose measures to reform the workplace from the traditional high-pressured male-centric models to more humane and family-friendly environments where women can be better supported so that our nation need not lose a vast pool of intellectual and creative talent.