The embarrassment and confusion of working mothers: Why did my position disappear after I returned to the workplace after giving birth?

My best friend came to me to complain a few days ago. She said that the job that originally belonged to her was left to someone else by the company boss. I was very curious at that time. What does it mean to leave jobs to others? Isn’t it fair competition? Since the boss promised you, it should be yours.

She said that it was like this. When the boss of the company was preparing to promote me, I happened to be pregnant. When I gave birth to the child and returned to the company, I saw that my baby was pregnant. There are no more jobs, and a bloody workplace drama has truly unfolded.

This netizen’s situation is not unique when working women return to the workplace after giving birth and cannot find their place. In China, the female employment rate exceeds 70%. Women have entered the workplace on a large scale and have quickly become an important force affecting economic development.

However, the simultaneous emergence of childbearing and financial burdens makes working women who become mothers extremely anxious. How to break the ice of rigid understanding and let "her" power rise in the workplace? Let's try to find out together.

1. Analysis of the Current Situation of Women in the Workplace

On the occasion of International Women’s Day in 2020, Babytree and Zhaopin Recruitment*** jointly released the "2020 Current Situation of Women in the Workplace in China" "Survey Report" shows that only 5% of women are serving as senior executives, while the proportion of men serving as senior executives is 9%; 58.25% of women have encountered "being asked about their marital and childbearing status during the application process", and 27% of women have encountered " When applying for a job, the employer restricts the gender of the position.”

After reading the report, we found that there are still many factors affecting women’s career development.

1. Gender discrimination in the workplace

In women’s career, they will encounter various gender-based discriminations: when applying for jobs, some companies do not recruit female workers; during interviews, women They will be asked about their marriage and love plans; women face various sexual harassments in the workplace; female employees will face salary cuts and job transfers after becoming pregnant.

Even now, women are required to undergo gynecological examinations in addition to general physical examinations during civil servant recruitment physical examinations. Many women question this and believe that work is not directly related to these, but there is no better solution other than accepting it.

In short, there are few employment options, gender discrimination in recruitment, questions about marriage and love during interviews, gynecological examinations before employment, workplace discrimination after pregnancy, unequal pay for equal work, promotion ceiling, sexual harassment in the workplace, and different retirement ages for men and women. The prevalence of such phenomena makes women still in a weak position in the workplace.

2. Workplace and family imbalance

If women in the marriage and childbearing stage suffer more from the workplace, working mothers face the problem of energy allocation. Not only do they To complete your job, you also have to spend a lot of time taking care of your children.

In terms of balance between work and family, most working people believe that they can balance work and family. However, the dual pressure from work and family can make working mothers anxious, while working fathers rarely There will be confusion in this regard.

There is a saying circulating on the Internet that it is not easy for mothers to survive the first year after giving birth. With the opening of the country's second-child policy, many families who have given birth to a second child, while enjoying the joy of the arrival of their second child, also have to face the problem of allocating time to take care of two children.

If there are elderly people at home to help, or if you have the conditions to hire an aunt, it would be better; if not, working mothers are likely to face the choice of quitting their jobs and becoming a full-time mother.

3. Obstacles in workplace promotion

Some women in the workplace would rather work than have children in order to be promoted; some women encounter hidden rules and sexual harassment in the workplace, but find it difficult to find ways to protect them. own rights and interests; even if a few outstanding working women take senior positions, they face far more doubts and pressure than male senior executives.

Why are there so many obstacles to women’s advancement in the workplace? One reason is that many people subconsciously believe that good leaders are men, and have more complex ideas about women who have successful careers.

Objectively speaking, society still has certain prejudice and distrust towards women in the workplace. Of course, this is only a part and does not represent the current situation of all working women.

2. How to make the power of "her" rise in the workplace

She may be your mother; she may be your wife; she may also be reading the article of you. In life, she takes care of her husband and raises her children. In the workplace, she is excellent and capable, but after becoming a mother, her promotion was blocked.

For working mothers, they face more energy allocation problems between career development and taking care of the family. How to make "her" power rise positively, four suggestions are recommended to all women in the workplace.

1. Change your own ideas

The book "Because of Gender" tells us that to change gender discrimination, ideas are more important than systems. As a woman, there is no need to apologize. We have never succumbed to social injustice. Ordinary people can also break gender prejudice and pursue equal rights.

Women are weak, but mothers are strong. Whether it is for their children or for themselves, they should first change their own concepts and recognize their own gender. When facing career opportunities, we must dare to take the initiative to pursue and fight for them.

2. Improve workplace competitiveness

I watched the domestic drama "Elite Lawyer" before, and I was deeply impressed by Li Na, the protagonist's secretary. She is both beautiful and smart. She is methodical in doing things. She can make all preparations before the boss speaks. She knows how to advance and retreat. She does not rely on men or luck. She relies solely on her own hard work to live her life like what most working women want.

Back to reality, a working woman who is recognized by her leadership for her strength will always have a place in the office even if she gets married and has children. If working mothers want to have a place in the workplace, they must work hard to improve their competitiveness in the workplace and transform themselves into an irreplaceable role.

3. Balance time investment

In the popular "Thirty Only" in the first half of the year, Gu Jia, a stay-at-home mother, took care of her children's education and established her own career. It can be called the "fighter among mothers." But the excitement of TV series is still far from our real life.

How should working mothers balance their time and energy? You can critically learn "Gu Xue" and "team up" with your husband to raise children together. At the same time, you can learn some time management books to control your own time and make every energy investment more efficient.

4. Re-plan your career

From a working woman to a working mother, not only your identity has changed, but you should also re-plan your work when you return to the workplace. In order to be able to work to make money while raising children, everything needs to be sorted out and weighed in terms of role allocation, mentality adjustment, time management, etc., which can be summed up in one word: "give and take."

In this process, we must also think about the relationship between family and workplace at the same time. Once it is impossible to take care of both, the probability of women resigning and raising children is much higher than that of men. So how can working mothers realize their quality of life and personal value when they have no source of income after taking care of their children full time? It is worth thinking deeply about for every working mother.

Modern society generally places high demands on women. They have to fight in the workplace and take care of raising a baby after giving birth. You can imagine how difficult it is! What should working mothers do to break the dilemma of balancing career and family?

Only by strengthening yourself can you gain more initiative for yourself, and when you make a choice, you must accept all the results. And if you are reading the article now, are you facing the same confusion in the workplace? You are welcome to leave a message in the comment area to share your views.