Supercharging your career after 50
I have often thought that women pursue their careers at the wrong time of their lives. So, I was really interested to hear how 5 of the Forbes 50 over 50 women supercharged their careers after 50.
Women enter the workplace in their early 20s (or earlier if they don’t go into further education), are statistically likely to be very successful in the first 10 years of their career building and are certainly on a parr with their male counterparts.
Then they face the dilemma of motherhood; many are delaying having children because they don’t want to interrupt their career so leave motherhood until they’re well into their 30s or even early 40s; many are suffering the consequences of taking a career break to have children and struggle to get the opportunities, recognition and rewards they deserve as their career at best stalls or goes backwards; many don’t want to jeopardise their careers by having children so they don’t have them at all.
I have no medical background but believe it is a well-known fact that having children later in life presents many problems in terms of fertility, conception, and potential complications. So, wouldn’t it make sense to enable women to have children earlier, take a career break or work part-time (if they like), but at the same time have workplace policies and training that give them credit for their past experience, recognise the relevant skills they have gained as a parent, and help them back into the workplace when they hit their 40s or 50s? That’s still a long time to pursue a successful career.
In the 21st Century, companies need to leave behind the old-fashioned concept of linear careers, seek to understand the complications of people’s lives and design workplace polices and career paths that can flex and squiggle in a way that helps everyone succeed and fulfil their goals.
Here’s the link to the Forbes article: