Have you noticed how often a woman’s identity is tied to others? – So-and-so’s daughter, Such-and-such’s wife, ‘my friend’s mother’? As though, if you didn’t know her father or her husband or her children, she wouldn’t exist! In my parents’ generation, it was commonplace for a man to introduce his wife saying, “this is my […]
Returning to Work – Rebuild your Identity Read More »
Last week, we heard Ananya’s story on why she chooses to work. She is very clear that her professional self is a significant part of her identity. To her, it means that she is independent in many ways, including financially and that she and her husband are inter-dependent in ways, that say ‘respect’ in words
Returning to Work – Dealing with Self-doubt & Fears Read More »
As we engage with women considering a return to work, we hear a lot of doubts and what-ifs. Why should women on a career break return to work? – if the family income is sufficient, isn’t it better for a woman to focus on family, especially children and the home? If both partners are career-focused,
Why should women on a career break return to work? Read More »
As a reader of our blog (if you aren’t a regular, please do become one!), you know that indePenn prepares women on a career break to return to work. As part of our process, we have a short 15-minute call with prospective members to understand what they’d like to do when they restart their careers.
Are “Work from Home” jobs ideal for women? Read More »
A school friend of mine, Bhuvana, is super talented. But just yesterday, she said to me, “you should write a post in your series “Motherhood Myth – A Mothers’ dreams must be only for her family. She can have none for herself.” I was not surprised. Bhuvana’s voice is melodious (think Lata Mangeshkar), and she
Motherhood Myths – A Mothers’ dreams must be only for her family Read More »
Last week, I mentioned Prerana, who worried that “My daughters have always topped their class and they’ve also been the ‘Outstanding Student of the Year’ several times. What if my going to work affects that?” This is a pervasive Motherhood Myth – Mothers must be always ‘just there’, that seems to be the norm today.
Motherhood Myths – Mothers must be always ‘just there’ Read More »
Over the past two years, we’ve spoken with over 300 women who have decided to restart their careers. Over 90% of them are mothers who have taken a career break to care for family. Some themes recurred in over 80% of the conversations, and we thought we should address them in a series of blogposts
Motherhood Myths – A Mother must be Selfless Read More »
A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend, Meera who took a 5-year break to follow her husband to Australia, when he moved there to work. With two children under the age of ten, she was fully occupied with learning to live in a country and culture that was completely different from what she
The success story of a software engineer returning to work after a career break! Read More »
In my last post, I spoke about Sambavi discovering a new career in digital marketing. When I asked Sambavi what was the key to her successful return to work, she had no hesitation in saying that it was her mentor Shyla’s support. Let us talk about mentoring and why it can make all the difference
Mentoring – Why it can make all the difference Read More »
We tend to think of returning to work after a long break as arduous and challenging. And make no mistake, it is a lot of work. But recently, I had an interaction that made me think about the silver lining to that cloud – exploring new career options after a career break. After Class XII,
Exploring New Career Options After a Break Read More »
