Sheryl Sandberg Says Men Need More Choices. Do They?

5:51 pm, December 5th | by Hillary Reinsberg

Women are no doubt at their best when they have lots of choice both inside of work and out. But Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says it’s men, not women, who need more choice.

What does that mean? While women can get paid maternity leave, few companies offer the same option for new fathers. If men got more opportunities to take time to help with family life and child-rearing, women and men might both achieve some more overall balance.

“We say we have choice, but we don’t make it easy for men to choose to do more in the home. We really don’t. We assume in our workplaces are going to do more, and it is sometimes easier for a woman to walk out and do something with the kids, and people give men a harder time. We need to change that,” she told a crowd at a Business Insider conference last week.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is, at least unofficially, the working woman’s evangelist for 2011. Why’s that? Because she’s realistic. Her advice about having a super successful career while also having a happy and normal life outside the office is awesome because it’s simple and feasible. One step at a time.

Check out the video of Sandberg as she explains:

TAGS: sheryl sandberg | sheryl sandberg interview | sheryl sandberg on work life balance

Adam R. Charpentier

The wage gap is a social and economical travesty. Maternity leave, for men, is…well, not.
al bundy

I agree I choose dinner NOW COOK IT..
brandy

How is it not? It puts pressure on women to either be the sole caretaker of the kids or else rely on expensive childcare – not to mention sending a baby off to be cared for by strangers at just a couple months old. Paternity leave allows men to give women the support they need in the early weeks and a chance to go back to work without putting the baby in daycare til they’re a little older.

Not to mention the fact that maternity leave is one factor contributing to the wage gap. Equal time off for men helps to level the playing field there, too.
Adam R. Charpentier

Well, when you consider it as a contributing factor then, yes, I agree that men should be given equal leave. However, it reminds me too much of whites crying about reverse racism. Maternity leave for men should be given, unquestionably, after women are paid dollar for dollar the same as women, but not before. Why should the discriminating party be granted concessions first?

For the record, it’s alarming that 1950′s gender roles are still largely in place when it comes to career men and women once a baby is on the way.
http://twitter.com/brandyliane Brandy Buckingham

The difference between this and “reverse racism”is that paternity leave isn’t just for the mens’ sake – it would help the women as well, probably more in the career area. I don’t know how you can decry the “1950s gender roles” and yet also say that only women should be given time off to stay home with a young baby – those gender roles are the reason paternity leave is rare.

Btw, I’m the same commenter, no clue why it has me logged in under twitter now.
ray

As far as the wage gap is concerned, how much is career choice rather than opportunity?

I suggest that you read “If Men Have All The Power How Come Women. Make the Rules” by Jack Kammer.

It’s a free download from http://www.RulyMob.com
Adam R. Charpentier

Like I said, I feel that it starts to look like a concession if it’s considered a contributing factor in the wage gap. How soon would the repubs spin it as, “Okay, as soon as men have equal time off to women, everyone will be paid the same.” Why should the privileged party get perks before something is done about the overall discrepancies? That’s all I’m saying.
Adam R. Charpentier

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