Womenomics: New Ways for Women to Aim for the Top

June 3, 2009 — -- The struggle to balance life at work and at home is a familiar one for many working women. Some though, are finding, that flexibility is allowing them achieve their ideal work and family lives.

It's part of a movement we call Womenomics.

Womenomics is the combination of two truisms. The first is women are a hot commodity in the workplace. We have enormous power that many don't even know about. The more senior women who work at a company, the more money the company makes. We control 85 percent of consumer purchases. Our management style, seen as more conciliatory, is in demand these days. Employers are tired of losing us.

And the second truism is, women are demanding new rules of engagement, we want more control of our time so that we can focus on family,as well as career. We are tired of working in a way that does not work for us--playing by rules we didn't make. We want to be able to dial our careers up and down.

But creating a more flexible workplace can stir up a lot of difficult questions. Just who gets to work from home and when? Will your work suffer if you spend too much time with your family? Answering those questions, and the conversations that come with them, can be difficult.

"Good Morning America" brought together a round-table of women of various ages and at various stages in their careers to discuss the "Womenomics" phenomenon and the pressure to be successful both at home and at work.

CLICK HERE to tell us what you think about flextime.

"Womenomics" has sparked a debate about what this new way of work means for women. For decades, women have been hearing "we've come a long way." But have we?

For Christine Heenan, Vice President of Government Community and Public Affairs at Harvard, success at work and at home has meant not aiming for perfection. "There's always something you're giving up," she says. She's tried full-time, part-time, flex-time -- even started her own company that let her have plenty of time at home. But can women who want to dial down for a bit -- still aim for the top? Absolutely, says Heenan.

"I think it's a false premise to suggest that only by aiming to the top, do you ever get to the top," she explained. "I think much more in terms of a career path and a career ladder, where the only route is up. I think if you're good at what you do, if you work hard and if you listen to yourself and say, this is the time to downshift, this is a time to upshift, you may still find yourself at that destination."

Click here to read an excerpt from "Womenomics."

Click here to tell "GMA" your thoughts on flextime.

Click here to read a searchable excerpt from "Womenomics."

Click here to visit www.womenomics.com.

Click here to purchase the book.

Where to See Claire Shipman and Katty Kay:

June 2:
ABC-TV "Good Morning America"
ABC-TV "The View"
PBS-TV "Charlie Rose"
Comedy Central "The Colbert Report"
Air America Radio Interview with Courtney Hazlett

June 3:
ABC-TV "Good Morning America"
Sirius XM Satellite Radio "Oprah & Friends"

June 4:
NPR "Diane Rehm Show"

June 5:
MSNBC-TV "Morning Joe"

June 6:
CNN "Your Money"

June 7:
ABC-TV "This Week with George Stephanopolous"

June 11:
C-SPAN "Close Up"

June 12:
CNN The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer

June 14:
NBC-TV "Chris Matthews Show"

June 19:
HBO "Real Time with Bill Maher"