Black Women Are Twice as Career Ambitious Today

December 20th, 2011 - By Brande Victorian

Results from More magazine‘s annual workplace report showed that women today are skimming back on career ambition in search of more work-life balance. When asked flat out, 43% of the women surveyed described themselves as less ambitious now than they were 10 years ago, with only 15% indicating they are more ambitious.

Spinoff articles of the findings questioned whether American women were “going dutch” in reference to the causal attitude women in the Netherlands have toward their careers, with 68% of Dutch women working part time. But there was one exception in the More study: African American women. Black women were twice as likely as average to say they are more ambitious today.

What was interesting about the study was that it didn’t find that American women don’t want to work; they just don’t want to advance. Nearly three-fourths of the respondents said they would not apply for their boss’s job, with 38% saying they don’t want the politics, pressure, and responsibility.

Unfortunately the breakdown of the study didn’t look into why black women don’t follow the trend, but looking at the reasons women don’t want to advance, it suggests we are more confident about our ability to handle office politics–as that is a part of our regular work day regardless of the position we have. And with the need for more black women in corporate leadership positions and so many doors still being closed to us, it makes sense that we’re working over time to wedge our foot through the door in the first place. What isn’t clear is whether black women are OK with the sacrifices to their personal and social lives to make it to the top of the career ladder, or if they’re pressuring themselves in their own internal way to achieve a certain level of success.

Do the results of this study ring true for you? Are you working overtime to advance your career despite the pressure and responsibility, or are you more like the rest of American women who are searching for career flexibility?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

Tags:

, , , , , , ,
More from StyleBlazer
More from MommyNoire

Comment Disclaimer

Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN

  • L-Boogie

    Interesting article.

  • LotusLeader

    This is great news!    As Sistas become more educated and experienced we can provide a better life and higher standards for our families!  This is awesome news!   A career does not cheat or impregnate others.  Let’s take care of our children, someone has too.

    • N1

      Yeah if it were 100% accurate. It is good to know that there are women who are ambitious, BUT it seems like a slick way to demean men. Drive comes from within.  Everybody should be winning.

      • LotusLeader

        My comment was not meant to demean anyone.  Both men and women cheat.  Agreed, everyone should be winning!!!  Thank you.  

  • Gmari

    Not everyone was placed on this earth to maintain a family or breed children..it simply is not in the cards. So… do you wait, and wither before finding out if it is or is not for you? Or do you make the moves necessary to ensure you will be taken care of financially (and socially) in the mean time? This blame game has become ridiculous.

    • Guess

      What about those who want a family and a career?  How do they find a balance? I think it’s posible to have both.

      • Gmarie

        I agree that is is possible to have both. my comment was in response to the thought process that black women are single because they are too concerned with their careers. because apparently they should be at home drowning in their sorrows and waiting for some man to come along and save them in the mean time. I don’t think any single woman should apologize for making their career, education, or community activities a priority

        • Guest

          If you want a happy family then you have to make your family a priority.  No man wants to marry a workaholic who works 80 hours a week.  I had to move on from a grad student because she was working and studying too much.  She had no time for anything else.  You have to be balanced.  Money and career isn’t everything.  Women of all races are beginning to realize what a lie that was.

  • Guest

    That’s why so many black women are still single.  Career isn’t everything. That’s a feminist lie.  Some women have realized this and are scaling back to focus on their personal relationships which for many people bring the most joy.  I’m a man and I know that I would gladly sacrifice career advancement to spend more time with my family. The memories that come from family vacations are priceless.

    • XYZEBRA

      Wow, even when we’re succeeding, we’re failures?

      • Guest

        I agree and could not have said it better. 

      • Shirtless

        Suceeding in only one area.  What about marriage, parenthood, etc.

    • http://twitter.com/rich665 .

      Are you gonna pay black women’s bills? Are you capable of doing so?

    • XYZEBRA

      Seriously GUEST, are you able to support yourself, children and a stay-at-home wife?

      • Guest

        My Dad did.  I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with a career.  I’m just saying be balanced.  Working 80 hours a week will leave you with no time for more important things like family.

        • XYZEBRA

          @GU@58c05d0008510f21c3fba6b7efeec055:disqus EST-We’re not talking about your parent’s generation, we’re talking about right now. Black women do not have the same financial safety net that white women have. If YOU can’t support a family on one income then you’re not even part of the solution, smh.Did you ever stop to think that maybe black women’s ambitions have to do with their lack of a safety net?

          Also, we’re still playing catch up in the corporate arena. I bet you don’t mind when that loan officer or customer service rep or lawyer is a black woman; that’s when you’re hoping for a fair shake. Well how do you think those jobs are possible? 80 hours of week in grad school. A supportive boyfriend who cherishes the time you DO have together could make the difference between the black woman who reached her dreams and the one who gave up.

          • Guest

            I’m an engineer.  I work 40 hours a week and I make enough to live comfortably. I make way more than a loan officer or customer service rep. I don’t make as much as a lawyer, but you don’t need to make six figures to have a comfortable life.  Climbing the corporate ladder is very stressful and doesn’t necessarily bring fulfillment.  My mom had a masters degree but decided to stay home when the kids came.  I’m eternally grateful to her for sacrificing her career for us kids.  There’s nothing wrong with ambition, but you have to realize that you can’t have it all.  If you put career first, don’t be surprised when your personal relationships suffer.  I doubt I will be laying on my deathbed reminiscing about all the wonderful hours I spent in the office.  

            • XYZEBRA

              Believe it or not, many people have work they care about that they will not look back on from their deathbed with regret. Clocking out at 5:00 pm on a job you care marginally about is not for everyone.

              We want black people to achieve their dreams, we should support their efforts and not see it as a sign of personal failure. This judgment of failure is always targeted at women.

              Also, many people with high status jobs are great at time managment. The 40 hour a week person who spends 15 hours a week in front of the TV isn’t necessarily a more active, present parent than the 80 hour a week person who makes good use of their time.

              • Guest

                I care about my work.  I love it.  I just love and care about my family more.  If career was keeping so many women happy, then so many wouldn’t be complaining about being single or worrying about having children before their time is up.  Many women are seeing it as a personal failure hence the premise of the article being that many women are voluntarily choosing to work less.  There’s more to life than work.  If you lay on your deathbed wishing you spent more time at the office then  your life was likely not very fulfilling.

                • Guest

                  Success is not measured by how much money you make.  Many things do not make a man great.  Who do will be remembered as a greater man Jesus or Steve Jobs.  MLK or Donald Trump?

                  • XYZEBRA

                    The greatness of men is not really at issue here…

                    • NiceGirl

                      XYZEBRA and GUEST – both stated good points.

                      @4b8463fab227569f991195e9bd52afe5:disqus , Yes, unfortunately, bw dont have the security blanket that women of other races have, but it doesnt make since for bw, including educated bw, to continue to bring kids into this world without the security of a man/ father.  Fathers, not only provide financial but emotional security.  Many of our boys only see women making decisions, running a households.  How will they know how to take care of their families (provide the security you are speaking of) when they are raised believing that the women are the head?  Then women complain that bm cant provide.  So you’re perpetuating the problem.  Believe it or not you can have a success career, marriage, and children.  You dont have to sacrifice love and the family you want chasing security.  What’s better than the secure bond of a loving husband and children who will benefit from both parents.

                      @58c05d0008510f21c3fba6b7efeec055:disqus I agree.  There’s no problem with women striving to be successful and continuing their education.  But we all know too many women who later complain because of the lack of men available to them.  And these women promote OOW childbirth, not realizing that they are selfishly denying their children the benefits of a father (security).  It’s sad because many do not take the time to smells the roses.     

                • XYZEBRA

                  It’s great to value family and relationships first, you’re not unique in that way. People whose work is their passion don’t necessarily wish they spent more time at the office, as you put it, but they might wish they did find that cure for a disease or get that innocent person off or did more for that at risk student who wound up dropping out. Drive to succeed isn’t just about money, it’s about a vision beyond your immediate family. Sometime it’s financial goals for self and family as well, especially when there’s little financial support for black women and children. Dutch women, and white American women, who the article above compares us to, have a safety net that black women do not have. Any interest in helpng black men to become the kind of providers who can support stay-at-home wives?

                  • Guest

                    The biggest help was my own father and the high standards my parents set.  His parents were a very proud family from the segregated south where you had to work twice as hard to make it.  They all beat the odds to succeed.  No OOW children or criminal records. I was always expected to work hard. I would be put on punishment for an entire semester if I got even a C.  Guess what? I never got a C.    Many parents today don’t expect anything from their children.  Hence their children never succeed especially the young men.

                  • Guest

                    Also our young women may do well in school.  Women in general tend not to be troublemakers.  However, many mothers and fathers have failed to show young women how to succeed in relationships.  Many women don’t know how to treat a man and vice versa.  Many women don’t know how to judge a mans character, instead becoming too caught up in emotion and other superficial things.  Many women end up being the primary givers in relationships in a subconscious attempt to control things and “make” the man love them.  However, they get emotionally attached.  Then the men use them and leave them.  This leaves many of them understandably bitter, hurt and believing all men are bad.  Some women then turn to careers and things for happiness.  
                    But my mom always taught girls to let the man show that he loves you first.  A real man gives unselfishly and the best thing a woman can do is show how much she appreciates it.  Woman don’t need to be buying uncommitted men a bunch of things and bending over backwards for them.  It’s embarrassing and pathetic really and a good way to get burned. That’s the mans job.  I was fortunate enough to learn this from my parents example.  Not all have the same luxury however.