For generations, women were not valued as viable workers. Their gender automatically determined their abilities. Through perseverance in the last century, women have been elevated from housewife to CEO to candidates for president – their gender no longer a measure of competency.
Still, working women face many pressures including performance at work and social expectations that come with being a woman in a patriarchal society. This creates a balancing act that is an ever-present struggle for some women as they try to maintain their professionalism and home life.
Balancing personal, social and professional responsibilities is something that Breea Clark knows well. In addition to being the mayor of Norman, Oklahoma, Clark is a wife and the mother of two young children.
“You have to have a good time management system,” said Clark, whose day job is as director of the JC Penney Leadership Center at OU. “When I’m at work, I’m at work. When I’m at home, I’m at home. One of the things I did right after I got elected was I publicly announced that I will politely decline all meetings on Wednesday evenings. That is time for my children.”
Some may say that nurturing a family is considered a second job. A round-the-clock workload that includes family priorities can lead to feeling overwhelmed with pressures of time and obligations. The working environment could be a stressful setting where individuals must meet deadlines, participate in meetings and meet performance standards.
The Office on Women’s Health states that stressed women are more prone to mental conditions such as depression or anxiety. More than 11 percent of American workers say they work 50 or more hours a week, according to an article published on Entrepreneur.com.
Working more than the average of 40 hours per week can be mentally and physically exhausting.
“Choose wisely how you fill your time away from work,” said Charlotte Lankard, an Oklahoma City author and a psychotherapist for 30 years, specializing in marriage and family therapy. “If you have young children, they should be a priority. It is more important to go to your kids dance recital or soccer game, than attend a community event. It is wise to choose a partner who shares household chore, carpooling and other responsibilities.”
She says women should try not to be all things to all people.
In order to perform at a high level, the National Sleep Foundation suggests that a person gets seven to nine hours of sleep every night.
But some women say, based on their profession or work schedule, getting seven to nine hours of sleep is not plausible.
Rhonda Chase, a registered nurse in Chickasha, Oklahoma, encounters stressful situations daily as she takes care of patients. She suggests going to the gym or reading a good book to maintain a clear mind and reduce stress.
Katie Lenhart, communications director at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, believes self-care is important to avoid becoming too emotionally involved in her work.
“There is a lot of stress in this industry,” Lenhart said. “It’s very sensitive and personal and there are ways I learned to cope with self-care.”
The American Physiological Association states in a 2015 article that employers’ support toward working women varies by boss: “Female bosses with families and young children tend to be more familiar with having to juggle many different roles and are generally more flexible.”
The article added that for any organization to keep talented women, they must continue to establish family-friendly practices such as flextime, job sharing, telecommuting, assistance in finding daycare or providing onsite daycare, as well as suitable nursing areas. Those are conditions many women would welcome.
“We’ve come a long way,” Chase said, “but still have a long way to go.”
