CareerMom: Self-Help Balancing Career and Motherhood Essay

Dual career families are now the most predominant types of family in the American workforce. Because so many parents face the same problems, childcare is no longer a strictly private matter; it is an urgent public concern. Parents, therefore, have a special role to play in ensuring that early care and education become a high priority on the national agenda.

For a single mother, the stability and security of Corporate America would seem like a safe haven that one would never risk leaving. But for author, speaker, and information technology expert Kiah L. Graham, the love she had for her young daughter gave her a burning desire to take that risk and see what success looked like beyond the comforts of big business. Her goal was to be able to not just financially support her daughter, but to also have the flexibility in fully supporting their academic and extracurricular pursuits. So, she took a leap and never looked backed taking with her a passion to build a life and a business that would make her daughter proud, and serve as example that women can do anything they set their minds to. As a result

There comes a time in life where individuals have to leave school to join the world of work whereby they will work their way up to the top. This is where career development comes into place. Career development is defined as progress through various stages in a career (Schreuder & Coetzee,2011). These are stages one goes through in order to mature in a career and for development to even exist, one has to start with making a career choice then developing it .A career choice can be defined as the relation between people’s personality types and their different occupational environment in which they work in.

5 years ago, my life changed, the arrival of my eldest reevoked my passion for a career that was inspiring and exciting. The idea of being a Midwife filled me with the same sense of enthusiasm it had done in my school years. I had a long stay in hospital prior to my daughters delivery, through which I seized the opportunity to learn of aspects of the role, such as pain management for the mother and monitoring the baby’s movement, as a result I feel I have a good understanding that being a Midwife is tremendously more than just delivering babies- but also supporting the family as a whole, developing a bond with the mother and providing them with unbiased information required to make their own choices and the subsequent power attached. I have

My passion for midwifery came to light whilst working as a domiciliary care assistant, although I believe it has been my vocation for some time. I am drawn to the role of a midwife because I want to empower women to make their own decisions during their pregnancy and birth and give them the confidence to do so. I think it is important to remember that everyone is different. The role of a care assistant has taught me a lot of valuable skills and knowledge that I can take to midwifery; I have been lucky enough to support a variety of people to live a life of independence to the best of their ability, and aid them with tasks and decisions where needed. I have learnt the importance of listening to people, and offering advice and reassurance where

As a young girl, I dreamed of being a Labor and Delivery Nurse. I always enjoyed watching The Baby Stories on The Learning Channel (TLC). I started my young adult life having babies. Although I did not graduate, I still knew that I wanted to go to nursing school. After my first two children became older I obtained my GED and started college courses. I eventually began the nursing program and in my second semester I became pregnant with twins. I had to quit the nursing program for a short while due to pregnancy difficulties. I resumed my degree plan when my twins were six months old. Juggling nursing school, being a single mother with an 11 year old, a 9 year old and 6 month old twins was at times very difficult but I kept my goal in mind. During

Personal experience sparked my fascination for midwifery. As a women having children was always in my thoughts, for now to be my greatest achievement. Midwifery meets all my wanted requirements in life, knowing how overwork and under staffed this medical profession is has given me more motivation and drive to help towards society. To give parent/s guidance, support and advise to looking after themselves and baby throughout pregnancy to post-natal would give them the best start to happy and healthy relationship. The job would also bring me great joy, putting aside practical care I fully understand what's at stake and all seriousness of my roll and childbirth and how it may not always go to plan.

This is an important phenomenon to discuss because this is how the seed of the cultivation of fear is planted. When people watch the news and see that every story or top headline is related to violence in their city, it can be hard to convince people that the world may not be as violent as what it being reported. It can be especially difficult to convince people that the world is not as violent as they believe because the news is considered a reputable source of information.

Women are the birth givers of the world and they are penalized for doing so. More often than not, a first time mother will have to leave their job to take care of their new child. That by itself is not a problem, but the repercussions of doing so can last for years after a constant care is no longer needed. Ashley Nelson, who wrote in “Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mom” the troubles a mother runs into when trying to balance a job and having a family. Stay-at-home mothers take massive hits to their personal careers, they are under constant scrutiny by the media, and they do not receive as many benefits as some other countries that allow mothers to return to their work force.

I once believed teaching was the least gratified, but most important career until I remembered motherhood which is more arduous yet less appreciated than any other job. Mothers serve for at least eighteen years, everyday, sunup and far past sundown, without sick days, and arguably no pay. My mother, Manola Jean-Mary having eleven children has done the impossible for twenty-two years with seventeen more to go. There has been countless opportunities missed, many decisions questioned, even hospitalization because of the side effects of stress, however with no regrets she continues to do her absolute best for every one of us. A dissertation could be written about her strength, hardships, and how she has prevailed, but this essay only briefly explains my mother as my source of inspiration. I reached a point where I lost all motivation, any urge to accomplish anything. I was convinced that everything I did was unsatisfactory, that my role in this world, and my efforts were unimpactful,

After reading Melissa’s career path and goals , I analized how Melissa and I share similar struggles in our career paths. The two of us experience related obstacles to reach goals and become successful. Like Melissa, my career development is troubled so my decison to venture back to school twice. Working as Director of Operations for a charter bus company for 6 years has provided me with a great deal of work experience. My job duties are somewhat similar to a managers position and I have the ability to make management decisions. Unlike Melissa’s hectic schedule, my work day starts at 8am and ends at 4:30pm each day. Weekends are my off days, but occasionally I am on call after hours. Unexpected inturreptions can interfere with family time.

Being a mom of four active children while achieving my MBA degree has been the greatest challenge of my adulthood. It has not been easy to find time alone to focus on the weekly assignments. So, during the times I have grab my head and said “oh my Lord, what am I going to do with these children?”, I have come up with several businesses that my local community do not have and mothers like me would benefit from- it’s called “Parents Time Out” (PTO)

In 1980, Donald Super introduced a theory that described career development in terms of life stages and life roles. Super was one of the first theorists to discuss the constantly evolving nature of career development, and the importance of finding a balance between career and personal life. Super’s developmental model emphasized how personal experiences interact with occupational preferences in creating one’s self-concept. Super discussed how each of us progress through various life and career development stages, including growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement. He also discussed that each of us take on different roles as we go through life, such as a child, student, leisurite, citizen, worker, parent, and spouse. Each of these roles has an impact on our personal and professional development, and on our work/life balance. Finally, his “archway” of career determinants detailed how both personality characteristics (intelligence, needs, values) and societal characteristics (labor market, school, family) influence our career choices and have a major impact on our career development.

While looking for employment after the birth of my youngest child, I wanted a position that will allow me to blossom in my beloved career field of Child Development. My love and caring for children dates back to my early age, when I was always the one taking my role of “Big Sister” very seriously. As I grew older and it was time to decide on a career, I entertained the Medical Field because of its lucrativeness but that didn’t feel natural at all. I liked science and nursing did made feel like I was making an impact into people’s lives but I was slowly but surely becoming unhappy. That’s when I had an honest talk with myself and searched within myself what made me so happy when I was a kid - and there it was, taking care of my younger siblings.

Further research, by Schultheiss, Palma & Manzi’s (2002) exhibited that children were more likely to show an awareness of a profession, in regards to social support from family, role models and friends. Previous research has also identified that parents are more likely to influence an adolescent’s career goal (Dietrich & Kracke 2009). Qualitative research discovered that parents allowed their offspring to decide their own career goals (Krace & Noack, 2005). Parents, who engaged in their offspring’s career ambitions, also advised their adolescent to expand their career interests. However, Young & Valach et al (2001) discovered that certain parents tended to force their offspring to abide by their own ideal career interests.