2015

A fine line: balancing motherhood and career

Jade Groen, Neetu Jain, Katie Lewis, Carolyn Rowland, Lilit

YenokyanOctober 2015

#GHC15

2015

2015

A fine line

• Life is a series of states

– Parenting

– Career

2015

Generational

• Our parents had different challenges

– More women in the workforce today

– Men have parenting challenges too

2015

Let’s Play!• Learn by doing

• Balance obligations on both sides

CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/emeryjl/2126342976/

2015

Rules• Choose a scribe

– Document observations to share later

• The person with the envelopes is the manager

– Assign roles to the rest of your team

– Take turns choosing scenarios

• Assign based on the letters (person B gets situations that apply to person B).

– The whole team: Discuss, resolve, debate

– Manager moves the discussion along by choosing another scenario

2015

Pencils down

• How did this exercise make you feel?

• What observations did your team make?

• What are your takeaways?

2015

Printing the game

• Use the following slides to print your own version of the game to play at work

2015

Instructions• Printing:

– Print game page 1 on cardstock. Cut apart into role cards. Place in “roles” envelope.

– Print scenario game pages two-sided flip on long edge. Cut apart and fold in half. Place in “scenarios” envelope.

• Tips for playing:– Caution your audience not to play nice. It’s easy to be nice but

that’s not reality. This team has a job to do.– Rotate roles part-way through game play so one person isn’t

stuck with the manager role.– Leave time for discussion at the end.

You are manager of a technical team.

• You have no kids.• You worked harder

than others to get here.• You are a tough manager.

You are a seniorengineer

• You have 3 kids.• Paid your dues, want to be

there for your kids more.

You are a junior engineer.

• You are a single parent.• New to the project• Want to make a good

impression.

You are a mid-level engineer

• You have 1 child• Trying to prove you can

balance work and home.• You want to move up.

You are an intern• You are a workaholic

You are a contractor• You have 1 child• You want to get hired

permanently.

You are manager of a technical team.

• You have no kids.• You worked harder

than others to get here.• You are a tough manager.

You are a seniorengineer

• You have 3 kids.• Paid your dues, want to be

there for your kids more.

You are a junior engineer.

• You are a single parent.• New to the project• Want to make a good

impression.

You are a mid-level engineer

• You have 1 child• Trying to prove you can

balance work and home.• You want to move up.

You are an intern• You are a workaholic

You are a contractor• You have 1 child• You want to get hired

permanently.

You are manager of a technical team.

• You have no kids.• You worked harder

than others to get here.• You are a tough manager.

You are a seniorengineer

• You have 3 kids.• Paid your dues, want to be

there for your kids more.

You are a junior engineer.

• You are a single parent.• New to the project• Want to make a good

impression.

You are a mid-level engineer

• You have 1 child• Trying to prove you can

balance work and home.• You want to move up.

You are an intern• You are a workaholic

You are a contractor• You have 1 child• You want to get hired

permanently.

You are manager of a technical team.

• You have no kids.• You worked harder

than others to get here.• You are a tough manager.

You are a seniorengineer

• You have 3 kids.• Paid your dues, want to be

there for your kids more.

You are a junior engineer.

• You are a single parent.• New to the project• Want to make a good

impression.

You are a mid-level engineer

• You have 1 child• Trying to prove you can

balance work and home.• You want to move up.

You are an intern• You are a workaholic

You are a contractor• You have 1 child• You want to get hired

permanently.

A A A A

B B B B

C C C C

D D D D

E E E E

F F F F

Dis

cuss

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qu

esti

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child

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w

ork

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l th

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situ

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imp

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and

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?

Dis

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esti

on

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Ho

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Dis

cuss

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qu

esti

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Ho

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fe c

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ass

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m

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th

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itu

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r th

em

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You

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fo

un

d o

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hav

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bab

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Dis

cuss

ion

qu

esti

on

s•

Ho

w w

ill y

ou

inte

grat

e th

is p

erso

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on

to t

he

team

?•

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at a

re t

he

chal

len

ges?

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are

hir

ing

a n

ew m

emb

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of

the

tea

m. T

he

top

ca

nd

idat

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fo

ur

mo

nth

s p

regn

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are

a n

ew m

oth

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ack

to

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d a

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at

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an

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ildre

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fe

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ike

you

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o d

o

mo

re b

ecau

se y

ou

do

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t h

ave

fam

ily c

om

mit

men

ts.

Dis

cuss

ion

qu

esti

on

s•

Ho

w w

ill y

ou

avo

id b

ein

g p

erce

ived

as

a cl

ock

-wat

cher

?•

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w w

ill y

ou

sch

edu

le a

rou

nd

mee

tin

gs?

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oe

s yo

ur

job

incl

ud

e tr

avel

? H

ow

do

es

that

imp

act

you

?•

Wh

at o

ther

ch

alle

nge

s w

ill y

ou

hav

e?

Dis

cuss

ion

qu

esti

on

s•

Ho

w c

an y

ou

co

mm

un

icat

e yo

ur

per

cep

tio

n t

o y

ou

r m

anag

eme

nt?

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ur

team

?

An

yon

e

Eve

ryo

ne

AE

BC D

F