Professional Success Definition

I stopped working because I was not being paid enough, I reached my glass ceiling at work, and I didn’t have time to be with my daughter. Those were the main reasons why I chose to continue my education, in hopes to find new answers and to align myself with genuine happiness; the happiness Aristotle talked about, one that comes from flourishing. This class is certainly helping me to find my voice while I dismiss the ones I no longer need. I am consciously becoming aware that the beliefs on which I had built my sense of how to be a great mother, a woman, and simultaneously a successful professional are crumbling around me. Perhaps, what we understand or tell ourselves as success is based on a story that doesn’t fit our concept of happiness today …show more content…
The concept of a family today has evolved, the idea that family is made up of two parents and children living in the same household is, fortunately, no longer valid because this definition does not reflect the diversity of families in the world today. According to Andersen, the U.S. Census Bureau data states that family consist of two or more people residing in the same household and out of these “families,” twenty percent are husband-wife households, thirteen percent are female-headed with no spouse present, and women are now the sole or primary income producer in 40 percent of U.S. households with children (Andersen, 2015, p.173). Our family stereotypes are changing, women have entered the road of professional careers and they are an essential aspect of the financial stability of their families. In like manner, many of us are single mothers that work and study, others have to work because their husbands can’t find a job, and some of them have to care for their extended families in another country. Yet, I feel society still …show more content…
While more companies now offer family-leave, there is a deep down feeling in every woman that makes them scare to request it, due to the possible retaliation they may experience in their salaries, at best, or be replaced later on. Needless to say, the guilt we feel when we accept the fact that many times we cannot manage full-time jobs and an active and a balanced home life. For instance, two years ago I had a job that offered me a family-leave to take care of my mother in Spain. The request process was incredibly difficult, the level of personal questions was excruciating, not to mention the implicit reminder of the consequences I will be going through if I were to leave my position for too long. The truth of the matter was that my mother was dying in Spain and my distorted vision of what responsibility meant, deprived me of being at her side in her passing. I believe that unless employers make possible for their employees to have the kind of environment that balance the requirements of many working mothers, it is going to be extremely difficult for women to feel fulfilled with their jobs and their family lives. Consequently, the possibility for employers of losing great personnel is also inexorable. In addition, I