There’s no mountain high enough for women to climb

Growing up in one of the most conservative countries in the world, with only 50 years of women’s right to vote and the right to open a bank account without husband approval, only since the 1990ies!!

The entire society is structured around one bred-winner and 99% of all women with children work part-time. Especially, the part-time work is what causes a huge career disadvantage for Swiss women. When they work part-time to make work and family life compatible, the male counterparts boost their careers. Free from any female concurrency. Once the women return to work after parental leave and initiate in part-time work, they’re often stuck in an intellectually not very stimulating job. Often having a male and far too often less qualified person above them.

 

An incredibly unfulfilling situation, leading many women quit work or work on a low percentage, reducing their chances for a career even more. The burden on Swiss women is extraordinarily high, since the school system, beside the work environment. It’s built upon the ideal housewife, staying at home and cooking 3 meals a day, including lunch!! Since Swiss kids up to 9th grade come home for lunch. It’s looked down upon, and women are seen as bad mothers, if they don’t provide lunch for their child.  A child that doesn’t eat at home, but rather at at a lunch place, i.e. organised by the church or other none-profit organisations, is called a “Schlüsselkind” or “key chain kid”.

Yet, these lunch services, that have such a negative association, yet aren’t free and require additional organisation and coordination. These factors complicate the combination of work and family life. These particular reasons, make it extraordinary challenging for Swiss women to  return to work smoothly.

 

What to do?

• Reduce the fees for daycare, in order not to use the entire salary just to cover the childcare costs.
• Increase number of public schools providing lunch at school.
• Urgent need for change in work culture.
• Provide greater flexibility at work places, working from home, choice of working hours.
• Job sharing in senior positions.
• Maybe maybe in Switzerland it’s necessary to initiate a quota, to increase the number of women in executive position from 0% to a utopia 50%.
• Men need to be more involved and able to be part-time workers.
• Provide access to more generous parental leave.
• Anonymous hiring process, to reduce gender and racial discrimination.
• Provide resources to women, such as mentorship, access to women’s networks to find role models and like-minded women.

@drschwank

@unesurcent