Opinion

On Work-Life Balance: My Choice, My family, My Career

By Mercy A. Okezue

‘My career, my family’, or ‘my family, my career’; which one takes precedence over the other? This forms the question with which many professional women in the African and indeed many other societies battle. Battle? Yes, indeed, I describe it a battle and I am positive that stories abound of gender bias experienced by women trying to raise a family alongside building their careers in academia or other professions.

From life experiences, I have known women who chose career over family needs and vice versa. Some expressed profound regrets at their choices years after those decisions, while others recorded resounding success. My thinking is that everyone reading this write up has examples of some positive and negative outcomes from choices made by women in different phases of their lives. In assessing “why women still can’t have it all”, Lachover (2014) documented different scenarios where women in top leadership positions had to sacrifice some important career privileges to be able to spend more time with their families. Those professionals, very much like their African counterparts, were faced with the choice of prioritizing either the family or career demands at some points in the prime of their lifetime. The choices made could be somewhat likened to a risk:benefit analysis.

My opinion is that the family-workplace conflict will not only affect the women ‘in the line of fire’, but the society at large will also be impacted. I recently read a book authored by a female which described different strategies for resolving work-family frictions employed by womenfolk in different parts of Africa; alternatives included the role of household helps and recommendations for government measures such as welfare packages. Additionally, a quest for family-friendly policies, such as men’s greater participation in family life as well as gender equality, all aimed at ameliorating the situation faced by the working woman within the region (Mokomane 2014). Another perspective suggests that women respond to work-life challenges in a variety of ways: choose not to have partners or children; turn in to “super humans”; take leave of absence; or choose to work part-time (Bielby & Bielby, 1988). Finding a balance between career and family demands would provide a desirable endpoint. In making choices, it is important to not compare one’s life circumstances with those of other peoples, rather endeavor to evaluate each situation and find what works best based on personality, environmental settings, and personal value systems. In any event, whichever turn a woman chooses to take at those critical decision points should be respected; her choice, her family, her career!

Mercy A. Okezue, B.Pharm, FPCPharm, MSc.(Purdue), NAFDAC certified GMP lead inspector for Pharmaceutical products is a PhD. Student in Biotechnology Innovation and Regulatory Sciences at Purdue University. She can be reached at mokezue@purdue.edu, amaka_u@hotmail.com

References

Bielby, D. D., & Bielby, W. T. (1988). She works hard for the money: Household responsibilities and the allocation of work effort. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 1031-1059.

Lachover, E. (2014). “Why women still can’t have it all?” Israeli media discourse on motherhood vs. career. Hagar, 11, 105-126,175.

Mokomane, Z. (2014). Work–Family Interface in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Responses. Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer.

News

Prof. Gitau Gives Invited Talks at Qinghai Normal University

 
MG_invited_1019
Prof. Margaret Gitau recently gave invited talks on “Managing Water Quality for a Sustainable World” and “Modeling for Hydrology and Water Quality” at Qinghai Normal University in Xining, China. In these talks, she discussed perspectives, current research, and future directions for water quality management, and also highlighted challenges and opportunities for hydrologic and water quality modeling.
Opinion

African Women Can Compete on Competence

By Abigail A. Ekeigwe

Competence, in my understanding, opinion and words, means the aggregation of knowledge and skills, some hard, some soft, that make one capable of effective performance that achieves desired outcome while having a balanced life.  For example, if you are a pharmacist with a college degree, you need to synergize the knowledge from your college education with experience from “deliberate practice” of pharmacy. You also need to add soft skills like emotional intelligence that help you coordinate your family, work environment, and customer interests to deliver desired outcomes.

My native African experience is that women are often raised to believe that their gender predisposed them to be less competent.  But I have come to learn that this is untrue, for example, as shown by the three characters in the book Hidden Figures, “the phenomenal true story of the exceptionally talented black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space.” (Shetterly, 2017). It is an inspiring book for all African career women to read. Competence is important because it is one of the key fundamentals of the capitalist society in which we work. For this reason, it is not within our control to choose whether or not to become competent, it is imposed.  Capitalism is competence-driven, efficiency-driven, profit-driven and, therefore, gender-agnostic.  Ideally, if you are the best the market will hire you, driven by its gender-agnostic profit motive.  But note that being the best includes being courageous to say, “yes I can,” the inspiring Barack Obama slogan, even at the risk of being labelled “proud”.  It is part of the creative personality profile that fired you up to competence in the first place and consistent with research findings of Csikszentmihalyi, who reported that “creative individuals have a great deal of energy, … often quiet and at rest … are also remarkably humble and proud at the same time.” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). We now know that “being too modest likely won’t serve you well.” (Nasher, 2019). Therefore, do not be demur; it would be professionally counterproductive for your career if you skittishly demur to the realities of your competence. The converse is true if you do what the market wants, namely, obey market rules, with evident demonstration of competence, and deliver that efficient resonant performance for which you have prepared. The society is replete with contemporary evidence in this respect.  A 2018 Pew Research survey shows that the American society is now more agreeable to the idea of women being in leadership positions in both business and politics (Horowitz, Igielnik, & Parker, 2018). Entrenched barriers are gradually crumbling and becoming morally unpopular.  But there is yet more work to be done.

To my fellow African women, I say, be strong and courageous, and watch the genius in you emerge to become visible to the market. These thoughts are from my daily introspections as I intently build my career capital to be compelling and resilient, and I wanted to humbly share them here hoping that someone would benefit from it.

Abigail A. Ekeigwe, B.Pharm, M.Pharm, FPCPharm, MSc.(Purdue), ASQ Certified QIA is a PhD. Student in Biotechnology Innovation and Regulatory Sciences at Purdue University. She can be reached at aekeigwe@purdue.edu, abigail.a.ekeigwe@gmail.com; LinkedIn page – https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-ekeigwe-74416b16/; ORCID – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2695-7690.

References: Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Perennial.; Horowitz, J. M., Igielnik, R., & Parker, K. (2018, 2018-09-20). How Americans View Women Leaders in Politics and Business. Retrieved from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/09/20/women-and-leadership-2018/; Nasher, J. (2019). To Seem More Competent, Be More Confident. Harvard Business Review(March – April).; Shetterly, M. L. (2017). Hidden figures: the American Dream and the untold story of the black women mathematicians who helped win the space race. New York: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

News

MTAWA Holds Successful Meeting in Atlanta, GA

State of the Network 1

Prof. Margaret Gitau (Purdue University and MTAWA) gave an update on the state of the Network. (Network Update)

MOkomo

Dr. Margaret Okomo-Adhiambo (CDC and MTAWA) led a combined breakout session on early career challenges and opportunities and the importance of mentoring. (Breakout Session 1A, B)

EQuansah

Dr. Elizabeth Quansah (Auburn University) gave an inspiring keynote address, sharing her professional journey and providing insights into the challenges and opportunities for African women in academia. (MTAWA Meeting Keynote Presentation)

CMuhoro

Prof. Clare Muhoro (Towson University and MTAWA) gave a workshop on negotiation covering key strategies including identifying negotiables and setting your BATNA and ZOPA. (Materials only available to meeting participants.)

ATL Tour 1a

Prof. Margaret Gitau led a group mentoring session focused on challenges and opportunities for African women in academia. (See Meeting Report for Notes.)

ATL Tour 1a_O

Dr. Maryann Chege (Floyd Medical Center and MTAWA) hosted a tour of Atlanta for interested participants.

Meeting Report: Meeting Report
Resources and links:

https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/Academics/Graduate/ProfessionalDevelopment/Student (Purdue University)

https://rackham.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/mentoring.pdf (University of Michigan)

https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/professional-development/graduate-game-plan (University of British Columbia)

https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/Academics/Graduate/FacultyResources/Faculty-Mentoring-Packet-(updated%2001-24-2018).pdf (Purdue University, For Mentors).