Maternity leave and other benefits always come up, however a recent study by the Harvard Business School’s brand new Gender Initiative found that just being a mom can work against you. When women leave work early, supervisors assume it’s because of their kids, when men leave early they assume it’s work-related. Bosses also said that women are more likely to spend less time at work because they feel guiltier about being bad parents than men. However the study showed both men and women are equally concerned about time away from home.
Cosmonaut Yelena Serova, the first Russian woman to go to the International Space Station is an excellent example. During the press conference, most of the questions focused on how she’d deal with leaving her daughter and the challenges of styling her hair in zero gravity. And she’s an astronaut.
