5 myths about motherhood and having a successful career

5 myths about motherhood and having a successful career

5 myths about motherhood and having a successful career

Taste the Future
Article
Dec 31, 2017
3 mins

There is so much judgement when it comes to motherhood. Moms across the world have fulfilling and rewarding jobs. And yet, myths about motherhood and having a successful career prevail.

We bust 5 myths relating to motherhood and careers

Myth 1 – A career doesn’t make you a part-time mom

There are a million elements to being a mom. Whether you are hard at work in your home or in an office, being a mom is part of who you are – 24 hours a day. Motherhood happens whether you are physically in the same space as your child or not.

Myth 2 - Choosing a career (or anything else) over motherhood is selfish

Looking back at myth 1, you can’t choose anything over motherhood. Being a mother is who you are. And this is not addressing whether or not having a successful career is a choice. It is more than possible that a woman can be the primary breadwinner in a family. Maybe the fact that a mother has a successful career means that without said career, their family will suffer financially.

More than the above... Being the best mom you can be, means being the best YOU that you can be. Whether that means being at home with your children or going out to work. There is nothing selfish about being happy in who you are.

Myth 3 - Your children pay the price

*Research from Harvard Business School proves this is false. Daughters of working moms are more likely to have careers, with higher positions and better incomes. Boys raised by working moms are more likely to be involved in the day-to-day running of their homes and caring for their families.

A **study out of Stanford Graduate School of Education, on the other hand, has found that the benefits of having a stay-at-home parent lasted far beyond the generally accepted early development years. They found that these children performed better in school all the way up to high school age.

Whether you have a career in an office or your career is raising your littles at home… Moms across the world are teaching their children that there is freedom in the choices of how they live and work.

Myth 4 - Moms are less productive at work

Have you ever met a mom? Motherhood teaches you to multitask in ways you cannot imagine. And you become better at managing your time and at general organisation. This isn't just theory, there was a ***2014 study that proved moms of 2 children were more productive than moms of 1, and that moms of 1 were more productive than women who weren't moms.

Myth 5 – You can’t balance motherhood and a career

In today's world, striving for balance affects everybody. Work-life balance is a difficult thing to find, perhaps more so when you are a parent... Perhaps not. However, one thing is for sure… Whether you are a stay-at-home, a work-at-home mom or a career mom, or dad for that matter, balance takes practice and work – but it is achievable.

What myths have you faced when dealing with motherhood and having a successful career?

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