In case you missed it, here’s the insightful op-ed that ran in Saturday’s WSJ by ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman (seen here) and BBC anchor Katty Kay. They’re tying the Palin job juggling challenge to their new book, “Womenomics: The Workplace Revolution that will change your life.”

 What makes this revolution possible is that it’s grounded in hard-core economics. Women are the hottest commodity in the hunt for talent.
We’re 58% of college graduates, we get graduate degrees in greater numbers than men. Companies are waking up to the fact that women are more than a politically correct nod to diversity. We help the bottom line. A recent 19-year study of 215 Fortune 500 firms found that companies that have more women in executive positions make more money. Companies with more women in senior management get higher valuations on the American Stock Exchange.
Overwhelmingly, women are using this professional clout to redefine work, not chain themselves to it. And companies, eager to keep us and terrified of the cost of replacing us, are responding. They’ve discovered that offering work-life balance actually increases productivity. There are accountants who get home at 3 p.m. every day but remain on the fast track. Top New York Law firms have part-time partners who are still players. Can investment banks be far behind?
This isn’t really about whether Mrs. Palin can do the job with five children. Will she do it all well? That depends on your yardstick, at least on the home front. How much time is “enough” with your children, or at work, is an extremely personal decision. The point is we now have reasonable options — it’s not all or nothing. Our mother’s generation may bemoan the fact that there is still a dearth of female CEOs, but our generation knows a big part of the reason why isn’t that we can’t get there, but that most of us don’t want to make the sacrifices necessary, as the jobs are now defined, to get there.

I can’t argue with their logic. In fact, I’d take it a bit farther. This is just one of the many changes that will play out as a result of women earning far more college degrees than men. The biggest change I see on the horizon is the “marriageable mate” dilemma black women have suffered with for years: Will women agree to marry a less educated man? For the most part, I’d say no, which will trigger changes far more dramatic than anything you’ll see unfolding in the workplace. 

Tags: marriageable mate

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