Women at Work

Latest Episodes:

Managing Burnout Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

Working long hours won’t necessarily burn us out, but getting too little sleep or feeling unappreciated might. Women commonly face extra stressors, like office chores or doing a “second shift” at home, that can leave us exhausted. And once we’re burned out, it usually takes more than a few yoga classes or going on vacation to feel like ourselves again.

Mandy O’Neill, an expert on workplace well-being, explains the causes, symptoms, and repercussions of burnout. She suggests several antidotes (including laughing with your colleagues) and ways to protect ourselves from experiencing it in the first place.

Our HBR reading list:

“Beating Burnout,” by Monique Valcour
“How to Help Your Team with Burnout When You’re Burned Out Yourself,” by Rebecca Knight
“Employees Who Feel Love Perform Better,” by Sigal Barsade and Olivia A. O’Neill
“Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Want,” by Amy Wrzesniewski, Justin M. Berg, and Jane E. Dutton
“Women Need Mindfulness Even More than Men Do,” by Beth Cabrera

Introducing Season Three Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

Women at Work is back April 15 with stories, conversations, and practical advice about being a woman in the workplace. Expect to hear from us every Monday for the next couple of months.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

Meet Our New Co-Host! Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

Amy Gallo is a contributing editor for HBR, an expert on conflict and difficult conversations, a prolific giver of advice — and now she takes up the baton of co-hosting the show from Sarah Green Carmichael.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

Self-Disclosure at Work (and Behind the Mic) Nov 26, 2018

Show notes

In this special live episode, we share stories, research, and practical advice for strategic self-disclosure, and then take questions from the audience. Guest: Katherine Phillips. Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

Sisterhood Is Power Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

It takes time and care to develop trusting relationships with the women we work with, particularly women who are different from us in some way. But the effort of understanding each other’s experiences is worth it, personally and professionally: We’ll feel less alone in our individual struggles and better able to push for equity.

We talk with professors Tina Opie and Verónica Rabelo about the power of workplace sisterhood. We discuss steps, as well as common snags, to forming deep and lasting connections with our female colleagues.

Our HBR reading list:

“Survey: Tell Us About Your Workplace Relationships,” by Tina R. Opie and Beth A. Livingston

“Women: Let’s Stop Allowing Race and Age to Divide Us,” by Ancella Livers and Trudy Bourgeois

“How Managers Can Promote Healthy Discussions About Race,” by Kira Hudson Banks

“How Managers Can Make Casual Networking Events More Inclusive,” by Ruchika Tulshyan

Get the discussion guide for this episode on our website: hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work

Fill out our survey about workplace experiences.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

Your Parental Leave Stories Nov 12, 2018

Show notes

We bring you three stories about parental leave, from listeners whose experiences with it changed them, for better or for worse. They talk about having to fight for more time off, go back to work before they were ready, care for sick babies, and try to hide their exhaustion and stress. Ultimately, they’re stories about how inadequate leave policies hurt families and companies.

Sisterhood Is Scarce Nov 05, 2018

Show notes

The glass ceiling is the classic symbol of the barrier women bump into as we go through our careers. But for women of color, that barrier is more like a concrete wall. If we’re going to reduce workplace sexism and racism, women of all ethnicities need to work together. And it will be tough to do that unless we feel more connected to each other.

We talk with professors Ella Bell Smith and Stella Nkomo about how race, gender, and class play into the different experiences and relationships white women and women of color have at work. They explain how those differences can drive women apart, drawing from stories and research insights in their book, Our Separate Ways.

Our HBR reading list:

Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity, by Ella L.J. Bell Smith and Stella M. Nkomo

“How Black Women Describe Navigating Race and Gender in the Workplace,” by Maura Cheeks

“Why Aren’t There More Asian Americans in Leadership Positions?” by Stefanie K. Johnson and Thomas Sy

“Asian Americans Are the Least Likely Group in the U.S. to Be Promoted to Management,” by Buck Gee and Denise Peck

Get the discussion guide for this episode on our website: hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work

Fill out our survey about workplace experiences.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

When We Make All (or Most of) the Money Oct 29, 2018

Show notes

Women are increasingly supporting our families financially. It can feel empowering to be the sole or primary earner, but many of us feel pressure to be both an ideal worker and an ideal mother. We hear from a woman who supports a stay-at-home husband and three sons.

Then, Alyson Byrne, an expert on status and gender, fills us in about the research on women as financial providers — for example, the more we financially contribute, the better our psychological well-being. (Yay.) She has tips on managing the professional side and the personal side of being the chief breadwinner. And Maureen Hoch, Women at Work’s supervising editor, shares her experience of being her family’s primary earner.

Our HBR reading list:

“Does a Woman’s High-Status Career Hurt Her Marriage? Not If Her Husband Does the Laundry,” by Alyson Byrne and Julian Barling

“Whether a Husband Identifies as a Breadwinner Depends on Whether He Respects His Wife’s Career — Not on How Much She Earns,” by Erin Reid

Get the discussion guide for this episode on our website: hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work

Fill out our survey about workplace experiences.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

The Art of Claiming Credit Oct 22, 2018

Show notes

Have you ever offered up an idea in a meeting and been ignored — but then, 10 minutes later, a man repeated the idea and everyone called it brilliant? Or have you ever worked hard on a team project and been left off the thank-you email?

If we aren’t thoughtful about how we present our ideas at work, we risk not being heard or, worse, missing out on the credit we’re due. Research shows that women get less credit when we work in groups with men. So, it’s important for us to be strategic with our suggestions and insights.

We talk with two experts on workplace dynamics and difficult conversations. First, Amy Jen Su covers how to artfully share your contributions. Next, Amy Gallo tells us how to call out credit stealers.

Our HBR reading list:

“Research: Men Get Credit for Voicing Ideas, but Not Problems. Women Don’t Get Credit for Either,” by Sean Martin

“Proof That Women Get Less Credit for Teamwork,” by Nicole Torres

“Research: Junior Female Scientists Aren’t Getting the Credit They Deserve,” by Marc J. Lerchenmueller and Olav Sorenson

“How to Respond When Someone Takes Credit for Your Work,” by Amy Gallo

Get the discussion guide for this episode on our website: hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work

Fill out our survey about workplace experiences.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.

Perfect Is the Enemy Oct 15, 2018

Show notes

If you’ve worked your way up in a competitive field — or are anxious by nature — you may have perfectionist tendencies. Maybe you’re a hard-driving, obsessive worker who thinks a task is never quite done. Or maybe you’re avoidant, struggling to start a project because you want it to be done just right.

We all know society holds women to a higher standard than men and rewards us for not making mistakes. But internalizing other people’s expectations — or what we think they expect — will only burn us out. To keep rising in our careers, we need to get in tune with our own standards for what’s a good, or good enough, job.

It is possible to keep our perfectionist tendencies under control. We talk through tactics with Alice Boyes, a former clinical psychologist turned writer and author.

Our HBR reading list:

“How Perfectionists Can Get Out of Their Own Way,” by Alice Boyes

“How to Focus on What’s Important, Not Just What’s Urgent,” by Alice Boyes

“How to Collaborate with a Perfectionist,” by Alice Boyes

“Perfectionism Is Increasing, and That’s Not Good News,” by Thomas Curran and Andrew P. Hill

Get the discussion guide for this episode on our website: hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work

Fill out our survey about workplace experiences.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.