Since the late '60s, as an outgrowth of the racial equality movement, there has been increased emphasis on the equality of women. In spite of this, the facts facing women in the workplace affect their ability to change jobs and "climb” the corporate ladder. 

When women begin their careers, out of college or graduate school, they earn about as much as men do. From ages 25 to 29 women earn 90 percent of what their male counterparts earn. But that all changes when they become mothers, and by the time they're 44 years old, their wages are down to 71 percent of what their male counterparts earn. The prime years for having children are also prime years for establishing a career. 

Half of the women from the graduating class of Stanford in 1981 left the workforce by 1998 and one out of every three MBA-earning women of the same class were not working full-time jobs at that time. In comparison, only one out of every 22 male MBAs of the same class was not working full-time in 1998.  Forty-three percent of women with children quit working sometime during their career even though 97 percent of these women had planned to return to salaried work. In one study, women who quit the work force for 1.2 years lost nearly one-third of their earning power in that time. The Center of Work Life Policy studied 2,443 women in business in separate groups. 37 percent of those studied quit work sometime during their career. That figure rose to 43 percent if they had children. Twenty-five percent of these women who left their jobs were not able to get rehired. Of the 74 percent that were successful in finding new jobs, only 40 percent were hired in a full-time professional position.

Women do not suffer from what I call, the “big male ego" problem. This problem, in my estimation, is created by the natural competitiveness of the male psyche. Very often, in business as well as in sports, the male ego gets in the way of performance. It's the veiled threat that you need "to be careful with me, or I'll beat you up!" Most often, this “big male ego” syndrome creates an environment where the person's “game” is nowhere near as big as his ego. In other words, their performance isn't as good as their ego would lead others to believe.

This is not to say that women don't have healthy  or competitive egos. For the most part, they can bypass that, "I’m bigger than you ... my dad can beat up your dad ... I'll kick your butt," ego game that men play and move on to performing well. Women can be just as competitive as men, but they don't have the same kind of male ego challenge. They don't automatically bruise other people's egos when they outperform them.

Since the business environment is still a "man’s" world, women have to work harder to attain the same levels of recognition. When women, like most minorities, want to reach equality, they have to work harder and perform better than the average employee. So, when over achievement is expected, average achievement is perceived as underachievement. It is not uncommon, therefore, for a female professional to be either recognized as a stellar performer or criticized as a poor performer. She is rarely perceived as average. As an over performer, she has to really outperform most of her male counterparts. Average performance or less will be perceived as  underperformance.

The major disadvantages that women face in getting hired all stem from the "mommy track" possibility. Hiring a female of childbearing age poses risks to an employer. These will never be voiced, but they are there. Many women, as stated above, claim they will return to work after childbirth, but don't. That can be a tremendous burden on an employer.

The difficulties of being a business professional and being a mother, until children are gown are a challenge. Rearing children is the hardest calling in the world. It makes most business endeavors look simple. Motherhood is more than an "occupation." A mother’s concern for her child or children will almost always supersede her concern for her career.  This poses a real challenge for hiring organizations. On one hand, hiring authorities want a professional that has their priorities in order. On the other, when those personal priorities run the risk of being an expense to the company, they have a real dilemma. 

Although there have been many advances since the 1960s, there are still many to overcome. You are not alone, and today with widespread knowledge and increased awareness, there are more organizations, resources, role models and services to help professional women in career transition to work smarter and more effectively than ever before.

Consider your personal preferences in how you acquire information. With the myriad of advice and information available on every type of media and support groups and services available in nearly every community, and even online, there is sure to be some option that would be a fit for you.